Yu-Gi-Oh MW
by nld200xy
Summary: In the year 3000, a great war is going on between Crystal City and New Domino. However, it seems Crystal City might have a new hero in the form of Damien. Unfortunately, he is an unemployed alcoholic with a negative outlook on life. Can he possibly contribute to this army or is he doomed to die in his first mission?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. And in case you're wondering, there will be no synchro or XYZ summons in this series. (Also, I do break card rules a few times, though I did my best to keep it to a minimum)

Many wars had been fought over time, be them wars between countries, cities or tracks of land. Sometimes wars would take up the entire world. And as more wars were fought, weapons were enhanced. And now, in the year 3000, people have done away with standard weaponry and have now switched to mechs, giant robot suits that soldiers could pilot. Our story is about a young man who would partake in such battles.

It was a rather dreary day in Crystal City as a young man named Damien was on his way home from a long day of job hunting. His parents had died a few weeks ago and as such, he knew he would need work. But unfortunately, getting a job without past experience was no easy task.

This man, who always wore a trench coat of some kind, had messy black hair, one grey eye and one red eye, had himself to blame for this to a certain degree. He was not particularly good around people and only knew two different attitudes to show the world, those being mellow and bitter. And it did not help that he had a tendency to hit the bottle whenever things did not go his way.

Today, Damien had just been rejected from another job as he entered the house his parents had left him and took a deep breath. He slowly walked into the kitchen and opened up a cupboard under the sink, revealing a few bottles with alcoholic beverages in them. He looked carefully at each before noticing a bottle of bourbon.

The man shrugged with a neutral expression on his face before pulling it out and twisting the cap off. But rather than bringing out a cup or something to drink this with, he simply held the bottle above his head, tilted his chin up and poured the liquid into his open mouth. After taking what he felt was enough, he placed the lid back onto the bottle and returned it to the cupboard.

"Guess I'll see what's on TV," the man uttered while walking toward the living room.

He would have had something to eat or even more alcohol for that matter, but he had come close to using up every cent his parents had left him. As such, he knew he would need to save up for when the rent came due, though at the rate he was going, he would only be able to afford rent for this month. Once the next month was over, he would be evicted for sure.

Before turning the TV on, Damien glanced over to a photo of his parents next to him and sighed, "Sorry, Mom and Dad. I wasted everything you left me," before taking a deep breath and pressing the 'on' button on his remote.

At that very moment, there was a news report on, this particular report concerning a big war that was currently taking place between Crystal City and New Domino. Damien let out a sigh and groaned, "It feels like that war's gone on forever. When will it end?"

However, the man felt even more annoyed when the reporter stated, "Right now, the army needs your help, citizens of Crystal City! Domino's army continues to grow bigger, but you can still help! Sign up today if you feel you have what it takes! Remember, your city needs you!"

Damien rolled his eyes and looked at the photo again, focusing primarily on his mother and saying, "You don't have to worry about a thing. I'm not going to try to follow in your footsteps. I know you'd prefer it if I was safe."

As it just so happened, Damien's mother was once a soldier in Crystal City's army. It was said that she was the best they had. She had a perfect record and had never once been overpowered by an opponent. But of course, she retired when the war of her generation ended. She had never said anything regarding it or whether or not she would approve of a family member going to war like she did, but Damien always figured she would be against it.

Just thinking about his mother reminded Damien of an old possession she had left him as a birthday present when he turned ten, though he saw little value in this. It was not a trinket or a family heirloom but rather a deck of cards from a game that had been around for years known as Yu-Gi-Oh. Damien had taken no interest in such a thing, and thus these cards had no worth to him. The only reason he kept them was because he knew his mother wanted him to, but why did it matter so much to her?

Whatever the case, this hardly mattered as the man turned off the TV and made his way upstairs. With that, he slumped down onto the bed and slowly closed his eyes. It was only six in the afternoon and yet he felt like calling it a night anyway. After all, he saw no reason to stay up any longer.

However, after a few seconds, the man heard a knock on his door. His eyes opened as he groaned, slowly getting up to head to the door. Once there, he slowly opened it as a middle-aged woman stood before him with a smile on her face.

"Can I help you?" Damien asked with a look of confusion, the woman replying, "Actually, you can help me greatly along with your country," the man's eyes widening as she held out her hand and added, "I'm General Morgan of the Crystal City army and I've come to recruit you specifically!"

For the first time in ages, Damien's eyes widened, but since he had gone so long showing next to no emotion, he was only able to manage an extra few millimetres. With that, the man asked, "Why me?"

"Well, you are Damien Lander, as in Emma Lander's son, right?" the woman asked as Damien blinked and uttered, "No, my name is Joseph Underwood. You want the house ten blocks from here."

Morgan rolled her eyes and remarked, "I know for a fact that you are Emma's son," Damien remarking, "Then why did you ask?"

The woman's eye twitched as she remarked, "Look, you have the blood of a true soldier in your veins. I know for a fact that you can help us. Now go pack your things right now, private."

Damien could tell there was no getting out of this as he let out a sigh and replied, "Okay, fine," the man closing the door and heading to his room. With that, he brought out an assortment of clothes and his liquor bottles and placed each set into a different hand bag.

He then remembered his cards and quickly placed them into his pocket. Again, he may not have had interest in them, but this deck was a present from his mother when he turned ten. He could not just leave it behind.

With that, the man headed toward the window to his bedroom and opened it. But just as it looked like he was going to jump out of it and bolt from the area, he froze.

A part of him wanted to flee for his life as he had no intention of joining the army. He knew he was not cut out for this. But at the same time, he could not help but wonder if this was the right decision. What if this was his only option? After all, he had inadvertently screwed himself out of every other job available.

With that in mind, Damien headed outside with his bags in hand as Morgan smirked and said, "Smart lad," the man staring as she added, "Oh, I know you were thinking of trying to escape. I have methods around that," the woman pulling out a taser as Damien stared at her like she was insane.

With that, the man entered the car she had used to get to his house and fastened his seat belt, putting his bags in the back. But before they left, Morgan asked, "Before I forget, do you have any Yu-Gi-Oh cards?"

"Yeah," the man replied with a confused look, "Why?" the woman beaming and saying nothing more before starting up the engine. Whatever the reason, Damien felt it best not to prod for an answer. It would have likely confused him more.

Soon enough, the two arrived at a large army base and stepped out of the car as Morgan said, "Welcome to our headquarters, Damien. While serving in the army, you will be living here. I hope you brought everything you needed from home because you won't be seeing that place for a long time."

Damien frowned in response to this and thought, 'Oh well, at least I brought my booze.'

With that, the man was led into the base as Morgan stated, "I have some business to attend to in my office, but Steven should be here soon to give you a tour of the base," a young slender man with green hair entering the area and giving an army salute while saying, "Steven, reporting for duty, ma'am!"

"Good timing," Morgan said with a smile before turning to Damien and whispering, "Just between you and me, his timing is his specialty," the woman walking off as the man thought, 'Why did she make that sound like a bad thing?'

"Hey, newbie," Steven said with a grin while holding out his hand, "Welcome to the Crystal City army base. For the time being, I'm your tour guide, Steven, but most of the time, I'm a private just like you."

Damien nodded as the green-haired man started to show him around. That said, though, he was not much of a help as by the time the two reached Damien's new room, the man had already forgotten where most of these locations were.

"Well, here's your new home," Steven said as he opened the door and asked, "Anything you wanna ask me?" Damien lifting his finger up only for Steven to give him an army salute and say, "Great. I'll be seeing you in the meeting hall at eight!"

With that, the man marched down the hall and slapped his forehead, groaning, "It's eight-hundred hours! Am I ever going to get that right!?" while Damien let out a sigh and decided to look around the base after dumping his bags carelessly into his new room. Perhaps someone more calm and collected could give him a reminder of where everything was.

But first, the man desperately needed to go to the bathroom and unfortunately, he had no idea where it was. His eyes would have gone truly wide if he was capable of that, but this hardly mattered as he wandered the hallway, his eyes darting left and right.

He then noticed a young woman with long red hair wandering the halls as he asked, "Hey, Miss? Do you know where I can find the nearest men's room?"

The woman nodded and pointed in the direction Damien had been heading and explained, "Turn left at the first fork you come to and it'll be three doors down," Damien nodding and replying, "Thank you."

Now that he knew where he was going, he wasted no time sprinting toward the bathroom. His mellow expression was still on his face, but deep down inside, he was excited to finally let out what he had to.

But just as he neared the door, the women's room, which was located right next to it, opened up as a younger woman with short pink hair and beautiful purple eyes stepped out. She turned to the right as her eyes widened, Damien running into her as both ended up falling. The woman's back hit the floor while her front side softened the man's fall.

Damien grumbled and uttered, "Sorry," his eyes widening by a few millimetres once again as he felt his head pressed up against something soft and round. With that, the man slowly lifted up his hands and placed them against it, squeezing it lightly.

He then pushed himself up as his body tensed up. His hands were pressed up against the woman's chest as she had a look of both shock and fear on her face, her cheeks beet red.

Damien quickly removed his hands and backed up while the woman slowly rose to her feet. She had light tears in her eyes as Damien uttered, "Look, it was an accident," only for the woman to run past him while crying.

The man slapped his forehead and groaned, "Dammit, this is why I don't talk to women," the man rising to his feet and slowly entering the bathroom. He would have to seek the woman out later and apologize if he at least wanted his allies to remain on his side.

Once eight o'clock rolled around, the man arrived in the meeting hall thanks to a nice stranger in the hallway who was more than happy to walk with him. When he arrived, he noticed the pink-haired woman from earlier talking to the redhead who had directed him to the bathroom. Seeing as she had a sense of urgency in her eyes, Damien could only assume she was talking about him and tried his best not to be noticed.

However, all conversations came to a halt when Morgan stepped up on stage and tapped the microphone, causing it to make a high-pitched sound. The soldiers all covered their ears as the general laughed and exclaimed, "Oh god, I love doing that!" everyone else glaring at her.

'This is our general?' Damien thought as the woman cleared her throat and said, "Alright, everyone, I've called this meeting together to welcome our new soldiers. Quite a few volunteered today. We got us twenty newcomers who will start training first thing in the morning. But there is one soldier in our ranks who I don't think is really going to need it."

Damien narrowed his eyelids as he knew she was giving him too much credit right now, Morgan then pointing at him and exclaiming, "I would like you all to welcome Damien Lander!"

The soldiers turned their attention toward him as he looked around in panic, the pink-haired woman staring wide-eyed while her friend gave him a cold stare. As if things could not get any worse, Morgan proceeded to call him up on stage.

The man took a deep breath and slowly made his way over to the general's side as she grinned and stated, "Damien here is the son of our finest soldier, Emma Lander, so I am expecting nothing but great things from him," the people then breaking out into heavy cheers. Now that they knew who he was related to, suddenly his presence in the army mattered to them.

Though unbeknownst to them, Damien wanted to bolt from the stage and leave the army base at this exact moment. He also wanted to call Morgan out on her rash decision-making. After all, it was very unprofessional for her to expect so much from him just because of his family and nothing else.

Soon enough, the meeting was over as the soldiers were ready to make their exit. However, there were two who stayed behind, and those were the women Damien had met earlier. The redhead noticed him about to head out when she tapped him on the shoulder.

The man turned and asked, "Can I help you?" only to receive a hard punch to the face, the man flying hard into the wall as the redhead gritted her teeth and snapped, "You have some nerve! Just because your mom has a great reputation doesn't give you the right to violate anyone you please, especially my friend, Cindy!"

The pink-haired woman bit her lower lip as Damien let out a sigh, rubbed the back of his head and gritted his teeth. With that, the man retorted, "For your information, that was an accident! I tried to apologize earlier, but your friend there took off before I could!"

The redhead refused to believe this as Cindy uttered, "I'm sorry. I knew it was an accident and yet I still tattled."

The other two turned to her as she added, "It's just, that's the first time anything like that has ever happened to me, so I panicked. I was going to tell Scarlet that it was an accident, but I had to listen to Morgan first."

The redhead, Scarlet, let out a sigh and turned to her friend, asking, "Are you positive?" Cindy nodding and replying, "Yeah, he was running really fast and had no time to see me there."

The redhead took a deep breath and turned back to Damien before exclaiming, "Watch where you're going next time!" the man letting out a sigh as she put on a more calm look and added, "Also, sorry for punching you."

Damien nodded and replied, "It's fine, you had a good reason," his face remaining the same as Scarlet nodded and said, "You're at least more civil than you look."

With that, the two women were about to head back to their room as Damien asked, "Hold on, where can I find that Morgan chick's office? I need to ask her something."

Scarlet nodded and said, "Here," pulling a folded up sheet of paper from her pocket and handing it to him. Damien opened it up to realize it was a map of the building, and it looked like it had been made with pencils.

"This is a map I made so I'd never get lost here," Scarlet said with a light smile, "You'd never believe it, but it took me ages to figure out where everything was. Now I don't even find myself using it, so you can keep it."

Damien had to admit, this was a very nice gesture and more than made up for earlier. As such, the man bowed his head and replied, "Thank you."

With that, the two women walked off as Cindy waved at Damien with a light smile. She still looked a little nervous, but not as much as before. Though the man could not help but wonder why someone so timid would even so much as sign up for a spot in the army.

Whatever the case, his top priority was finding Morgan's office, and after a little while, he eventually found it as he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The door opened up as Morgan sat at her desk, rather delighted to see the man.

"Oh, hello, Damien," she said, "What brings you here?"

"There is something that's been on my mind since the ride here," Damien replied, "You asked me if I had Yu-Gi-Oh cards."

"Oh yes," Morgan replied with a nod, "Can I see them?" the man shrugging and pulling them out of his pocket as the woman replied, "Oh, good, you actually did bring them with you. I was worried you might have just said that to shut me up."

'So that must be a common thing with her,' Damien thought before placing the deck back in his pocket and asking, "Why did you ask me to bring them?"

"Oh, right," the general replied, "I really should have explained that. Everyone gets so confused when I tell them they need Yu-Gi-Oh cards to join. Well, you know how we use mechs to fight, right?"

Damien nodded and replied, "Yeah, that's common knowledge," but just as Morgan was about to elaborate on this, her eyes widened as an alarm sounded throughout the building.

"You're gonna have to find out the hard way," the woman stated, "We're under attack," Damien groaning in frustration. He was about to head off to his room when Morgan asked, "Aren't you gonna come with?"

"But I haven't trained yet," Damien remarked, "I don't even know how to work a mech!" Morgan taking a deep breath and saying, "I know you'll be able to figure it out. You got it in your blood."

The woman had a big grin on her face as Damien slapped his forehead. He knew that if he did not ago along with this, she would likely force him. Though all the while, he was resisting the urge to tell her how rash this was. She was once again using his family as her only reason.

However, when Damien entered an area filled to the brim with mechs, he had to admit they were actually pretty cool. While his face did not show it, a part of him actually felt rather excited to pilot one, even if he had no clue how to do it.

He tried to enter one only to find this one belonged the Steven, the green-haired man saying, "Sorry, Damien, but that one's assigned to me," the black-haired man turning to Morgan and asking, "Are there any mechs here that don't have assigned pilots?"

"Oh, right," the general replied before pointing to twenty and adding, "Those ones were recently built. You can claim either one for the time being, though they're all preserved for the others once their training's complete."

Once again, Damien could not help but wonder how Morgan was a general but refused to ask any more questions. He found a silver mech that looked strong enough to him and boarded it. However, his eyes went wide when suddenly, a speaker system turned on, a small image of Morgan's head appearing in the lower right-hand corner of the cockpit.

"Damien, can you hear me?" the woman asked as the man stared with confusion, the general adding, "This is the communication system. Every mech has it."

"That makes sense," the man replied as she added, "I do have faith in you, but just to be on the safe side, I will guide you through the basic start-up procedure," Damien breathing a sigh of relief. It seemed Morgan did have a sense of responsibility even if it did not show all the time.

"Alright, how do I start moving?" Damien asked, "I don't see an 'on' switch or anything like that."

"That's where your cards come in," Morgan replied with a smile, "Insert your deck into the rectangular slot to your right."

Damien looked down at the dashboard and noticed a slot that could definitely fit a deck of cards inside of it. He found this to be a weird way of starting it up, but at least now he knew why he needed Yu-Gi-Oh cards with him.

With that in mind, the man pulled the deck out of his pocket and inserted it into the slot. With that, bright lights came on inside the mech as it started up. Morgan then told Damien how to move as he followed her instructions, rockets activating in the bottoms of the mech's feet while it took off through an opening in the ceiling.

Unfortunately, just as the man had exited the base to confront the enemy, Morgan had cut off her communication with him as she believed he would be able to figure out the rest out on his own. The man gritted his teeth and growled, "Thanks... bring me into the battlefield but don't tell me how to fight! I should have made a run for it when I had the chance!"

To make matters worse, the controls were a tad confusing. It was not that there were so many buttons that he could not figure out for the life of him but rather it was the lack of controls. Movement was straight forward but there was only one other button, and that was a big red one labelled 'Engage Enemy'.

However, before he could even think about this, he noticed a whole slew of mechs headed toward the base. Luckily, the other soldiers seemed more than ready for this but Damien had no idea how he was supposed to help out.

At the back of the enemy line was a big black mech that resembled a phantom of some kind. Inside was a man around Damien's age with short blue hair.

"Alright, Drake, are you ready for this?" asked a middle-aged man through a speaker, the blue-haired man replying, "Of course."

It seemed this Drake person had something rather valuable attached to his mech as the man on the other end stated, "Remember, you are to drop that bomb onto the base. As such, I want you to avoid combat with the enemy mechs. I have nothing but faith in you, but I can't risk having you blow up."

"Understood," the younger man replied before breaking communication and heading forward. He did the best he could to avoid having to fight any of the other mechs. After all, it was just as his general had said. His role in this mission was far too important.

But while the other members of Crystal City's army were busy with their own enemies, Drake noticed Damien not too far in front of him. He simply shrugged and knew he would have to avoid engaging battle with this soldier too.

However, because Drake did not try to avoid him immediately, Damien assumed this soldier was going to attack him as his mech held its arm out, its eyes widening as the pilot exclaimed, "WAIT! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!"

With that, Damien instinctively hit the red button as two slots opened up on the mech's sides, shooting out small orbs. The orbs stopped once they were located between the two mechs and formed a clear sphere around them as Damien was beyond confused.

However, he seemed to have a small idea of what was going on when he heard a small voice coming from his mech saying, "One-on-one battle engaged." Damien then noticed a few readings form on the top of the screen, one of these being the vitality of his mech, twelve-hundred to be exact.

"Wow, that's a lot of life," Damien uttered, "I must have scored me an advanced model," before noticing a reading of his opponent's life and noticing it was five-thousand. The man's eyes and mouth were wide open as he groaned, "Don't tell me I got a dud!"

Drake took a deep breath and thought, 'Oh well, at least this one's mech is weak. I should be able to take care of him in no time.'

With that, the dashboard of each mech flipped over to reveal thin slots shaped like playing cards, two rows of five to be exact. As if that was not strange enough, the voice from earlier returned and stated, "Please draw five cards and prepare for your duel."

"Wait, what?" Damien asked as he looked around and noticed all of the other mechs were not fighting like he believed mechs did. And just as he was about to question why everyone was just floating there, his speaker came on again as Morgan asked, "Just a quick heads-up, you defeat your opponent by beating them in a game of Yu-Gi-Oh."

Damien's eyes widened as he asked, "What!?" the communication cutting off as Drake had already drawn five cards and said, "Well, go on. You initiated the battle, therefor you get the first move."

Damien could not believe any of this. This was undoubtedly the stupidest thing he had ever heard in his life and yet it was real. He had to defeat this highly-ranked opponent in a game he knew next to nothing about if he was to help out during this battle.


	2. Chapter 2

This was the strangest day of Damien's life. Sure, being forced into the army was definitely something he could live without, but to find out that his means of defeating his adversary was playing a trading card game was just too much to take in. How did that even work? Had war evolved into a gentleman's past time? How could they even be able to see each-other's cards?

Drake folded his arms with five cards in his hand and sighed, "How long are you going to think about your first move? I'm in a hurry right now."

Damien's eye twitched as he uttered, "Okay, hold on," the mech saying, "Please draw five cards," the man retorting, "I heard you the first time, dammit!"

With that, he draw five cards and stared blankly at them. The only thing he knew was that the green cards were spells, the pink cards were traps and everything else was a monster, but that was pretty much it. However, his train of thought ended when the mech told him to draw a sixth card since it was the start of his turn.

'Why didn't you just tell me to draw six?' the man thought while gritting his teeth and drawing another card, 'Oh well, at least it's giving me instructions. I wonder what else it'll teach me.'

Drake was really starting to lose patience as Damien noticed two trap cards in his hand. He tried placing one of them in the top slot only for the mech to say, "Trap and spell cards cannot be placed in the monster zone. Place in the zone below."

'Oh, okay, that's simple enough,' Damien thought before placing the trap in the zone only for the mech to state, "Trap cards cannot be set face-up. They must be face-down until you can activate them."

'God, this game is picky as hell,' the man thought while placing his two traps face-down. His eyes widened when he saw the mech hold out both of its hands, shooting giant versions of the cards from its wrists in front of it.

'Now I see how this works,' Damien thought as Drake sighed, "Finally, you're doing something, though I guess I can't blame you for being nervous with such a weak mech."

Damien grumbled before looking at his spell. He noticed it was called 'Monster Reborn' and read over its effect. He could not make heads-or-tails about what it meant, but it did not sound like something he could use. As such, he simply looked at his monsters. One was a panther wearing a gladiator outfit, the other was an elvish swordsman and the last was a black T-Rex.

'That's it!' Damien thought, 'From a logical standpoint, a dinosaur is significantly more powerful than any of these! It must be the strongest!'

With that in mind, Damien placed the dinosaur into the monster zone as the mech held its fist forward and fired an energy blast from its wrist. This brought the dinosaur to life as it took real, physical form and let out a loud, threatening roar. Damien then looked around and noticed everyone else was fighting like this as he thought, 'Amazing. They found a way to make the card game a real weapon.'

Drake did not seem the least bit intimidated by this as he looked at his hand and thought, 'A Uraby? I can beat that easily. He should have played it in defence mode.'

"Alright, now that I've gotten the hang of this," Damien stated, "It's time to attack!"

The boy then noticed a button over the card with that very option. As such, he pressed it only for the mech to say, "You cannot attack on the first turn."

Drake could hear this as he thought, 'He can't be serious? Why is this guy in the army if he doesn't know how to play Yu-Gi-Oh?'

With that, Damien realized he had no moves left and noticed a button that said 'end turn'. He figured this was as good a time as any, but he felt confident that the moves he had made would at least keep him protected. And with that, he pressed the button as the turn shifted to Drake.

Unlike Damien, Drake wasted no time drawing his next card. And he already saw some great moves he could make. As such, he placed a spell card titled 'Red Medicine' as a beaker with a red liquid appeared in his mech's hand. It wasted no time popping off the cap and consuming the fluid, adding five hundred to its vitality.

"Oh god, now he's gonna be harder to beat," Damien grumbled as Drake placed a pink gargoyle in his monster zone. Though Damien was certain his dinosaur would be able to beat it, he felt he had to be careful as he noticed a button beneath each spell slot labelled 'Activate trap'.

With that, he pressed the button underneath one called 'Acid Trap Hole' as he had briefly skimmed over the effect and seen that it could destroy monsters with two thousand defence or less once they were summoned. However, there was more to it as the mech stated, "Requirements for trap have not been met."

Drake let out a sigh and thought, 'This is gonna be quicker than expected,' the man then placing a spell card with a picture of dark area surrounded by pink smoke called 'Yami'.

With that, the mech waved its arms around as the area inside the sphere turned pitch-black, Drake saying, "In case you're wondering, I just activated a field spell that makes all dark-type monsters stronger."

'Did he say field spell?' Damien asked as he remembered one of his traps effected cards like that. With that, he pressed the button below that as the card was flipped over, revealing itself to be 'World Suppression.'

With that, Damien's mech held out its hand and shot a blast of light into the spell card, destroying it as the black field vanished. Drake's eyes widened as he could not believe it. Damien did not seem to know a thing before and yet he had just used that trap card at the right time.

"Did I just do something right?" Damien asked as Drake sighed, "No matter. Your monster is still weaker than mine."

"Bullshit!" Damien retorted, "You seriously expect me to believe that a gargoyle can beat a dinosaur in a fight!? You must be delusional!"

However, Damien would be eating those words soon enough when the gargoyle struck the dinosaur hard with its claws. The dinosaur roared in pain as blood flew from its body, the creature falling hard on its back while it sunk into the ground. As if that was not surprising enough, Damien's mech ended up taking in damage as its vitality went down to eleven hundred.

"But how?" Damien asked as Drake sighed, "I know I shouldn't be helping the enemy, but your cluelessness is getting on my nerves. First of all, the strength of a monster is determined by its attack power. Your Uraby only had fifteen hundred while my Ryu-Kishin Powered has sixteen-hundred. Also, when a monster is attack mode is destroyed by a stronger monster, the difference in attack is deducted from the vitality of the duellist whose monster lost."

Damien's eye twitched but after a while, he developed a small understanding of this. Even so, this was bad news for him as none of his monsters were stronger than Drake's. And when the blue-haired man's turn ended, Damien hoped that he would draw a good one.

He looked rather disappointed by his next draw as it was a monster with a mere fourteen hundred and fifty attack points. How, he then noticed that its defence was seventeen-hundred. He then looked around and noticed other soldiers had some of their monsters in a defensive position with the cards below the monsters facing sideways.

With that, he figured that must have been how to have monsters defend as he placed the card sideways in the monster zone. However, the mech spoke up and said, "Monsters in defence mode must be face-down."

Damien did not mind this particular rule as simply flipped the card over, the mech summoning the card itself. However, the monster was hidden underneath as Damien asked, "Where's my monster?"

"The card is face-down, so the monster hasn't taken form yet," Drake replied with a sigh. He figured since he had not explained defence power, Damien would likely make an amateur mistake here as well. So when his turn came, he immediately summoned a green imp with pink claws that had an attack power of thirteen hundred. This was nowhere near as impressive as that of his other monster, but he figured it would suffice.

With that in mind, Drake had the imp attack the face-down monster while Damien braced himself. However, much to his surprise, the card flipped itself over thus revealing a headless knight with its shield protecting it from harm. And much to Damien's surprise, the imp was unable to destroy it. Not only that, but a shock wave emanated from the knight and struck Drake's mech hard, the blue-haired man's eyes going wide as he lost four-hundred vitality, the mech shaking a bit as the bomb strapped to its back seemed to be loosening a bit.

After a few seconds, Damien nodded and said, "Oh, I see. So defence power has the opposite effect of attack power," Drake sighing, "So you're not as slow of a learner as I first thought. Oh well, I'll plan something better next turn."

All the while, the man was thinking, 'Dammit, of all monsters, why did it have to be Headless Knight? If it had at most fifteen hundred defence points, I could at least destroy it with Ryu-Kishin Powered. It's just beginner's luck. He didn't even know what he was doing.'

Damien took a deep breath and thought, 'Well, that at least kept him at bay,' the man drawing his next card as he noticed it was a picture of a green pot with a creepy grin on its face. He then read the name 'Pot of Greed' and the description and said, "Alright, I could use this."

With that, Damien placed it into the spell zone thus allowing him to draw two more cards. He noticed that he had drawn a dragon with three thousand attack points and a weak fly trap. Though the dragon was the one he was most focused on. He knew that level of power would be more than enough to take Drake down a peg.

However, as he did so, the mech stated, "Level eight monster. Requires the sacrifice of two monsters already in play."

'Two monsters?' Damien thought as he looked at his monster zone and sighed, 'And I only have one. This is just perfect. I'll need to keep a second one alive until my next turn.'

The man then looked over his other two monsters and noticed that the panther had a higher defence. If he was lucky, Drake would use his imp to attack it instead of the gargoyle, though he failed to realize that the gargoyle might attack instead. As such, he simply placed the panther in defence position.

With his turn over, Drake took a deep breath and said, "I'll admit, you've kept me at bay. Not bad for a newcomer, but this is the turn where you run out of options."

With that, the blue-haired man proceeded to sacrifice both of his monsters in exchange for a mage with blue hair and a purple cloak. Damien's eyes widened as he thought, 'He managed to pull off a sacrifice.'

"I see you had a monster with the same level in your deck," Drake said, "Too bad you'll never get to use it."

As if that was not enough, Drake then proceeded to cast a spell with a picture that resembled an upside-down sword with hair instead of a handle on it to bring his gargoyle back from the dead. Damien's eyes widened as Drake added, "This way, come next turn, I'll be able to attack your mech directly and end this. Now, face the wrath of my Dark Magician."

'No!' Damien thought with his teeth gritted, but luck seemed to be on his side as Drake had his magician attack his face-down monster. He figured that perhaps once again, Damien would catch him off-guard with a high defence power. However, he was wrong when the target ended up being a Roman panther with her shield covering her face, and its defence was only thirteen hundred.

Sure, the target had been destroyed, but since he had wasted the Dark Magician's attack, he had no means of which to destroy the Headless Knight. With that, he simply ended his turn, but at the very least, he knew there was nothing Damien could do.

However, when the man drew his next card, his eyes widened as he thought, 'Wait a minute. He used that spell to bring back his monster. I think I have a card that can do that too.'

It was then he remembered it, the 'Monster Reborn' card he had been holding since the duel began. It had a very similar effect as it was able to bring back a monster from what was known as the 'graveyard'. Damien had a bit of trouble understanding this at first but soon came to the conclusion that the graveyard was simply the spot next to the deck where cards removed from play went.

With that, the man took a deep breath and saw this as his only option. He placed the card into the spell zone as Drake's eyes widened, Damien choosing to bring his Uraby back. The dinosaur let out a loud roar as the blue-haired man thought, 'Okay, fine, I doubt whatever he has in his deck can possibly beat my Dark Magician!'

However, his tune changed when Damien used his sacrifice to summon a shiny white dragon with blue eyes, aptly named the 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'. Drake's eyes widened as he could not help but wonder where Damien had gotten this card. There was no way an amateur with no idea how to play the game could have had something that powerful in his deck.

Damien had a serious expression on his face as he said, "Alright, it's about time I finally shut you up," the man having the dragon send a burst of white lightning from its mouth into the Dark Magician. The mage let out a cry of pain and disintegrated while the lightning hit Drake's mech hard, the blue-haired man wincing.

To make matters even worse for him, the bomb strapped to his back ended up unhinging itself as a timer started up, Drake's eyes widening as he quickly had his mech grab hold of it and hurl it high into the air, the bomb exploding far from the base.

Though his mech still had forty-six hundred vitality, Drake took a deep breath and said, "My mission was to use that bomb on your base, but you've managed to ruin that. So I'll give you this victory, but don't get a swelled head. You simply got lucky."

With that, Drake pressed a button labelled 'surrender' as the mech instinctively flew back toward the base, the man sending a message to his general to let him know he had failed the mission. With that, the general immediately sent a message to all the other soldiers, telling them to abort. Without the bomb, there was no point in them continuing and thus, all of New Domino's soldiers fled from the area.

Damien went silent as he could not believe what had just happened. He was new to the game of Yu-Gi-Oh and yet he had just won his first game, and a game that could have likely resulted in his death no less. However, due to his years of always looking neutral or bitter, he was unable to bring himself to smile, though he was certainly smiling in his mind.

Cindy stared at this with admiration as the dragon let out a triumphant roar only for the mech to return it when the small orbs returned to the slots on its side. Many other soldiers cheered Damien on as Steven exclaimed, "Oh my god, he just defeated Drake! I can't remember the last time someone was able to stand up to him!"

However, Scarlet did not seem nearly as impressed as the others. In fact, she would have felt ashamed of Morgan for cheering her head off, but she knew it was normal for the general to get excited easily. Besides, Drake was the strongest member of New Domino's army, so this was certainly no small feat.

With that, the soldiers returned to the base as Damien took a deep breath. Morgan immediately placed a hand on his shoulder with a big grin as she exclaimed, "Wow, that was amazing! I don't even think your mom could have pulled that off!"

"I'm sure she could have done better," Damien remarked as the general headed toward her office, drowning out his words with more praised, only now she was talking to herself.

Of course, it was not only her as Steven stared at Damien and said, "That was awesome! You gotta teach me your secret!" the black-haired man rolling his eyes and remarking, "I wish I could."

Steven let out a sigh and replied, "Yeah, probably too advanced for me anyway," the green-haired man turning around and exiting the area, Cindy smiling lightly at him with her cheeks pink. However, she could not find the courage to say anything as she headed off to her quarters.

However, after more soldiers praised Damien, Scarlet let out a sigh and folded her arms, glaring at the man. Damien turned and asked, "Oh, god, what is it now? I just wanna go to bed now."

"I know you think you have everybody fooled, but I was paying quite a bit of attention to that duel," Scarlet remarked, "You clearly had no idea what you were doing. Seriously, you don't even know the name of the monster you used to defeat the Dark Magician, do you? Did you even know what you were doing when you initiated that duel?"

"No, I didn't," Damien replied with a sigh, "And look, I'm not trying to fool anyone. You're right. That was a fluke."

The redhead stared blankly at him. She could not believe that he was so open about this and as such, she could not help but ask, "Why did you join the army? You don't know a thing about how combat works here."

"Hey, it wasn't my choice to make," Damien remarked as Scarlet stared, the man sighing, "I was forced into it. Morgan just needed to know my name and that was good enough for her."

"But that doesn't sound like-" Scarlet uttered before slapping her forehead and groaning, "Actually, that sounds exactly like her."

"I've also never taken interest in Yu-Gi-Oh," Damien added, "The only reason I have this deck is because my mom entrusted it to me. I didn't even know she used it for warfare."

Scarlet gave the man a sympathetic look and rested a hand on his shoulder. She then smiled and said, "Well, you certainly can't get out of this and we're allies, so how about this? Tomorrow morning after breakfast, I'll teach you the basics of how to play Yu-Gi-Oh. That way you won't be confused about every little thing."

Damien nodded and replied, "Thanks," his same neutral look on his face as he headed to his quarters. Once again, he had trouble smiling after spending so many years avoiding it, but a part of him really wanted to right now.

However, as he entered his room, he noticed someone else there, a young man with spiky orange hair. The man looked up and grinned at Damien, saying, "Oh, hey, you're the new guy, right? You were so cool out there. You're probably the first person who's ever defeated Drake."

Damien rolled his eyes and sighed, "It really wasn't anything special," the man remarking, "No need to be modest."

"Who are you?" Damien asked as the orange-haired man replied, "Oh, right," before holding out his hand and adding, "Name's Matt. I'm your roommate."

"No one said anything about a roommate, but that's fine I guess," Damien shrugging as he noticed the room did, in fact, have two beds in it. He had been in such a rush to put his bags in earlier that he had not even gotten a good look at it. It was a slight step up from his old room, that was for sure.

During this time, Drake had returned to the base with a sigh. Needless to say, after his failure, the general wanted to see him in his office immediately. The blue-haired man was certainly not looking forward to this.

He then stood before a middle-aged man with grey hair and a goatee. He took a deep breath and sighed, "Do you know why I've called you here?"

"It's because I lost to an amateur," Drake replied before protesting, "But I swear I could have beaten him! The only reason I gave up was because the bomb had been activated early! That was the only reason we launched a full-scale attack was so we could attach the bomb to their base!"

"Yes," the man remarked, "Drake, I'm not mad. After all, you have succeeded so many times over the past. One little loss is not enough to anger me. But yes, it's like you said. You allowed an amateur to pull that off. But what's more, whether or not the mission had been compromised, you should have stayed and at least finished what you started."

"I don't understand," Drake replied as the general took a deep breath and added, "If it had been any other soldier, I would have been fine with them flying away from the scene, but you're the best soldier we have. By giving up because of one blow, you've made our army look weak. I don't want Crystal City to think we're weak, got it?"

Drake took a deep breath and nodded his head, saying, "I understand. This won't happen again," the general nodding and replying, "Good. That is all. You are dismissed."

With that, the blue-haired man exited the office and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a photo of a young girl with hair similar to his and sighed, thinking, 'I promise we'll win this war and then everything will be as it should be.'


	3. Chapter 3

The morning was nice and bright outside of the army base, the exact opposite of what the sky was like yesterday. The sun shone bright and the birds sang and all the while, Damien awoke with a long yawn before noticing Matt was still asleep.

The man shrugged his shoulders and got up to head to the shower room as he had not gotten one last night. As it just so happened, the base had ten different rooms for this very purpose, so he was sure he would be able to find at least one of them. Though he would also have to be careful to enter the men's shower room only.

But before he headed out of the room, he opened his bag of liquor and pulled out a bottle of Sangria. His eyes sparkled but remained in their usual mellow look while he popped off the cap and took a quick swig. After all, he felt he deserved a bit of reward after pulling off a miracle last night.

And with that, the man wandered the halls. Since he had not had too much liquor, he figured he would have been fine, though it seemed having a drink of alcohol after just waking up might not have been the best idea as his vision had gotten a tad bit fuzzy.

However, he could still see well enough as he noticed big letters over a door saying 'Shower Room'. The man nodded and looked at the picture on the door, his eyes squinting as it certainly looked like the silhouette of a man.

With that, he reached for the door when suddenly, it opened up, his hand pressing up against something soft, round and a tad familiar. He managed to make out the face of Scarlet, who currently had wet hair and was wrapped in a towel. Her eyes were wide and her lips were pursed as Damien looked down at where his hand was, and of course, it was right up against her right breast as the man subconsciously squeezed it.

And in only a matter of seconds, he found himself on the receiving end of a hard punch, his back flying into a wall. Scarlet gritted her teeth and fumed before barking, "WHAT THE HELL, MAN!?"

"Sorry, I just reached for the door when you came out," Damien explained as Scarlet sighed, "Oh, okay, so it was bad timing," before narrowing her eyelids and asking, "Then why were you trying to enter the women's shower room?"

"Women's?" Damien asked as it seemed the blow to the face had restored his vision, the man staring at the sign and asking, "Where did that dress come from?"

However, he was even more surprised when Scarlet actually snickered in response to this. Not only was the comment itself worth a laugh, but the fact that Damien was serious about it made this even funnier. Damien, himself, did not see what was so funny but figured this was better than having Scarlet mad at him.

"Anyway," the redhead replied, "the men's shower room is four doors to your right," Damien nodding and heading there while the woman sighed, "That man needs to be more careful."

Once Damien had his shower and breakfast, Scarlet had invited him into her room to teach him more about how to play Yu-Gi-Oh. It seemed Cindy was her roommate and needless to say, she was surprised to see the man enter.

"Oh, hey Cindy," Damien said as the pink-haired girl blushed lightly and replied, "Good morning, Damien."

"You knew he was going to be here this morning," Scarlet stated as Cindy nodded and uttered, "Right, sorry. I forgot. Would you like to be alone?"

Scarlet turned to Damien who shrugged and replied, "It's not a big deal. You can stick around if you want."

The redhead had to admit that she was rather surprised by this response. It was not so much that she expected Damien to desire privacy but rather it was the fact that he was perfectly fine with having someone else in the base know of his incompetence.

Even so, Scarlet wasted no time as she asked, "Alright, first of all, how much do you currently know about Yu-Gi-Oh?" Cindy curious as to why her friend asked this while Damien replied, "The one thing I did know yesterday was the difference between spells, traps and monsters. What I picked up on was defence mode, zones, power differences and sacrifices."

"Well, that's a start, but we got quite a ways to go," Scarlet replied as Cindy wanted to question the fact that someone who had recently defeated New Domino's strongest was asking for advice on how to play Yu-Gi-Oh. And yet she held back on such a question but did not know why.

During this time, Drake was laying in his bed and staring at the ceiling when another young man, this one seeming to be of African descent entered. He gave the blue-haired man an odd look and sighed, "Are you still thinking about your loss yesterday?"

Drake said nothing in response as the man took a seat and stated, "Look, you lost one duel. Everyone loses from time to time. I've been defeated in battle three times since I joined the army and yet I've never stopped trying."

"You don't understand," Drake remarked, "I volunteered to blow up their base because I thought it would be the ideal way of ending this war once and for all. To have an amateur come in and ruin everything is the worst feeling ever. So yes, forgive me if I have trouble getting over this, Aadil."

Aadil took a deep breath and replied, "Right, sometimes I forget why you joined the army in the first place. Sorry," Drake sighing, "You have nothing to apologize for. You were just trying to help me feel better and I lashed out at you."

With that, the blue-haired man got up from his bed, a light smile forming on his face as he said, "Hey, let's have a practice duel. I'm sure I'd be able to beat that amateur the next time we face, but I can't be too careful," Aadil nodding and pulling out his own Yu-Gi-Oh deck.

Soon enough, Scarlet had taught Damien the basics as she asked, "So, do you think you're ready for another duel?" Damien replying, "Yeah, I could probably handle it," Cindy still surprised by all of this. Like everyone else, she honestly believed Damien was some kind of expert so to see him seeking out advice was shocking.

Suddenly, a speaker came on as Morgan's voice came out of it saying, "Will Damien and Matt report to my office, please?" the man letting out a sigh and groaning, "I wonder what she wants now."

Scarlet gave Damien a light smile and said, "She's probably gonna send you on your first mission. Good luck," the man nodding and replying, "I might need it."

And as it just so happened, the redhead was right. When Damien and his roommate entered the office, the woman beamed bright and said, "Thanks for dropping by. I have a job for you two."

Matt grinned and asked, "Sweet, I already get an assignment with my roomie?" Morgan nodding and replying, "I would have sent Damien by himself to do this, but he's a newcomer. It only makes sense to give him some slight assistance."

'So she is capable of common sense,' Damien thought as Matt grinned and replied, "Well, I'll try my best, though it might be Damien here helping me."

'Stop giving me so much credit,' the man thought as Morgan explained, "I've picked up on a core located in Diamond Valley and I wouldn't be surprised if New Domino had discovered this as well. I want you two to go out there and fetch it before they do. And, of course, if you run into one of their soldiers along the way, you will deal with them, right?"

"You can count on us," Matt replied with an army salute as Damien shrugged and accepted this. After all, thanks to Scarlet's lesson, he was starting to feel a tad more confident about this.

"Now, before you go," the general added, "Damien, I have something to show you."

With that, both men were led to the hanger where Morgan showed Damien a particular mech. This one in question was red with a rather buff build and machine guns attached to the tops of its wrists. Damien blinked as Morgan explained, "This is the mech your mother used back in the day. We've cleaned and polished it specifically for you."

"Okay, I have to admit, that's actually pretty cool," Damien said, though he still had his usual mellow look on as Matt groaned, "Aw man, I wish my mech was as cool as yours!"

Damien shifted his focus to the machine guns and asked, "Quick question, why are those there? We don't use weapons to fight, right?" Morgan replying, "Actually, we do under the right circumstances. See, if an opponent has no monster on his or her side of the battlefield when your turn begins, you can launch a direct attack with your mech. How much damage it deals depends on how strong the mech is, though we've never been able to exceed one-thousand."

"Is that how much this deals?" Damien as Morgan replied, "No, it deals eight hundred, but that's nothing to scoff at."

With that, the general signalled the man to give the mech a try. With that, he stared at it for a few seconds before entering. He had to admit, it certainly looked different on the inside than the weak mech from before had, but all-in-all, it felt strangely satisfying just having his own personal mech.

"So, roomie, ready to head out?" Matt asked with a grin after entering his own mech, Damien shrugging and replying, "Ready as I'll ever be," though he was not completely sure if he believed that.

Matt's mech was a sky-blue one with a thin build, a katana strapped to its side and shoulders that resembled the pads worn by shogun samurai. Damien had no idea why Matt was so hard on it. He thought it looked pretty cool too.

And with that, the two soldiers were off as Matt explained, "By the way, soldiers aren't the only things we'll be facing," Damien replying, "I figured as much. I've heard large beasts roam areas like these, but just out of curiosity, do we fight them the same way we fight other mechs?"

"Well, yes and no," Matt stated, "We can use monster cards to fight them off and the weapons inside of our mechs, but we don't need the little orbs to initiate battle with them."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to be able to do that all the time?" Damien asked as Matt replied, "Yeah, it would make sneak attacks against Domino's soldiers possible, but what are you gonna do?"

The two soon arrived at Diamond Valley which, as the name implied, was a simple valley with large mountains next to a path. As it so happened, the core Morgan wanted them to retrieve was inside a cave in one of the mountains, though which one was anyone's guess. Because of this, Matt had been entrusted with a tracking device that could pick up on large energy readings.

"So, what kind of core is this anyway?" Damien asked as Matt stated, "It's always cores that contain a chemical of some kind. It's used for destructive purposes. If those guys got their hands on this, they'd get a huge upper hand against us."

Suddenly, Matt stopped in his tracks when he heard a growling noise from nearby. Damien followed suit and asked, "Is that one of the creatures?" Matt having his mech nod when a giant lizard with razor sharp teeth crawled out from behind one of the mountains.

"Good, it's only one," Matt said with a grin as he wasted no time whipping drawing a card from the top of his deck and summoning a purple bird clad in armour and weilding two swords. The bird put two big cuts on the lizard as Matt finished the job with his mech's katana.

"Well, that takes care of that," the orange-haired boy said with a grin as the lizard was out cold. Damien had to admit he felt a little bad for the creature, but the mission was their top priority.

Soon enough, Matt picked up on the core's signal as he said, "It's in that cave right over there," when suddenly, another mech was seen heading toward that exact location.

Damien gritted his teeth and groaned, "Dammit," Matt saying, "Well, we'd better hurry."

Damien took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, you can do this,' as the other mech, a short green mech being piloted by a young blond woman with a bit of a belly heading toward the cave.

With that, Damien wasted no time speeding ahead as Matt blinked and exclaimed, "Hey, wait up!" but just as Damien was almost close enough to engage a duel with the woman, another riding a blue mech with a similar build flew in front of him. This woman was tall and slender, wore thick glasses and had short black hair in a bun.

"Hey, I won't have you messing with my sister!" the woman spat as she pressed the big red button, orbs shooting out of her mech's side as a transparent sphere formed around her and Damien.

"Dammit!" Damien cursed as Matt flew on ahead and said, "Don't worry, I'll challenge the other one. You focus on this opponent," Damien sighing, "As if I have a choice."

While Matt flew after the green mech in the cave, Damien turned his attention toward his opponent, the woman exclaiming, "Alright, Crystal City scum, you might think you're something special, but you're not!"

'Crystal City scum?' Damien thought, 'Who does she think she is, a fifties superhero?'

Whatever the case, he knew it was time to put Scarlet's lessons to good use, but not before the black-haired woman in the opposing mech added, "You're messing with one of New Domino's best privates, Amanda! When you mess with me, you mess with death!" Damien retorting, "Enough with the lame speeches already! You're giving me a headache and we haven't even started yet!"

Amanda gasped before taking a deep breath and sighing, "Alright, you're a man of action. I guess I can respect that to a certain degree, but mark my words, you cannot win."

'Your low vitality tells me otherwise,' Damien thought as he noticed Amanda's mech had twenty-three hundred vitality while his new mech had four thousand. Needless to say, he seemed to have the upper hand.

Amanda drew her five cards with a big grin before placing a monster face-down in defence mode and placed a card face-down in the spell zone. With that, her mech proceeded to summon the face-down monster card with the top of its wrist while using the bottom to conjure up the other face-down card.

"And that's my first move!" Amanda exclaimed, "Let's see you crush this if you can!" the woman laughing maniacally as Damien slapped his forehead, sighing, "I hope I can end this quickly."

With that in mind, the man drew a sixth card and looked over his hand. He noticed a level six monster with twenty-one hundred attack points then remembered what Scarlet had told him about monsters like that. While level seven and eight monsters required two sacrifices, levels five and six needed one.

That gave him a bit of confidence as he looked over his monsters. Reason dictated that he would need a really powerful monster to guarantee a chance at summoning his level six one and as such, he went with the strongest one in his hand, a warrior with a bushy white beard and purple skin.

'This guy's attack is fifteen hundred,' Damien thought, 'It may not be the strongest I've come across, but it's definitely a good attack power to have.'

With that, the man pressed the button below the card that initiated an attack. However, when the monster was flipped over, it was revealed to be a knight in pink armour with two giant shields protecting it. To make matters worse, the monster's defence was eighteen hundred, so when the warrior's sword struck its shields, a big shock wave headed toward Damien's mech and struck it hard, lowering his vitality to thirty-seven hundred.

"Yes!" Amanda exclaimed, "Thus is the beginning of my ultimate strategy!" Damien's eye twitching as he uttered, "Big deal. Your monster has no attack power."

Thanks to Scarlet's lesson, Damien was able to pay attention to details like this, and he was right. The knight may have had a strong defence, but it had zero attack points.

"It's true that my Ganbara Knight is useless in terms of combat, but my next monster will be," Damien rolling his eyes and noticing a trap in his hand, a swirling vortex called 'Negate Attack'. Reading over its effect made this seem like the perfect choice. After all, the woman might not have been lying about her strategy.

With that in mind, Damien placed the card face-down as his mech fired it from the bottom of its wrist. And on that note, his turn came to a close, though he really hoped this would work.

"Alright, now it's time for phase two of my genius plan!" Amanda squealed while Damien face-palmed, the girl then summoning another knight. However, this one was weilding two swords and had an attack power of sixteen hundred, certainly enough to destroy Damien's Kojikocy.

With that, the knight crossed its arms and charged at the warrior. But just as the knight was about to strike, Damien flipped over his trap, the vortex appearing before the knight and releasing a bright light. With that, the knight was blinded by the light as it backed away, no damage having been dealt.

Amanda let out a gasp and exclaimed, "Oh my god, who could have possibly foreseen that!?" Damien rubbing his temple and groaning, "Even when I get the upper hand, she's annoying."

With that, Amanda had no more moves as her turn came to a close. However, the black-haired woman did not believe for a second that Damien had anything he could possibly use. If only she knew what he had in his hand.

Damien did not even bother to look at the next card he drew as he said, "Alright, now's the part where your 'oh-so-perfect plan' falls to pieces."

With that, the man sacrificed Kojikocy and replaced him with a cerberus whose necks were covered in flames. Amanda stared with her jaw dropped as Damien had the cerberus pounce on the knight, biting into its shoulders with its left and right heads while using its middle head to breathe fire into its face. This caused the knight's helmet to melt as its face followed, nothing but a skull remaining. And with that, the knight fell hard on its back and sunk into the ground.

A bit of the flames also hit Amanda's mech as her vitality went down to eighteen hundred. She had certainly not seen this coming, but she had a smirk on her face as she seemed to have been prepared for this.

"You think you've got the upper hand, but you don't," Amanda said as she flipped over her face-down card to reveal a card with a picture of a graveyard with steam coming out of it. The card was called 'Call of the Haunted' and it seemed to have a very similar effect to Drake's 'Monster Reborn' card.

With that, Amanda returned her knight and said, "My Zubaba Knight may have gone down, but he managed to get up again," Damien groaning, "Now you're quoting old pop songs? What time period are you from!?"

"You're just mad because my strategy is better than yours!" Amanda retorted as Damien sighed, "Says the girl with nothing that can defeat my monster."

"Is that what you think?" Amanda asked as Damien confirmed the end of his turn. With that, the girl had her mech blast both of her monsters as she laughed wickedly and exclaimed, "For your information, I didn't bring Zubaba Knight back to life to add to my monster count! I simply needed him as a sacrifice to summon my strongest monster!"

'Strongest monster?' Damien thought as the black-haired woman's mech fired a shot of energy that formed into purple alien with a body like that of a human woman and crown that fit around its odd brain-shaped hair.

Damien's eyes went wide as he noticed this particular monster had an attack of twenty-nine hundred. How could he possibly defeat this monster?

"Meet the queen the galaxy herself, Cosmo Queen!" Amanda exclaimed with a maniacal laugh, "With her power on my side, I can't lose!" Damien gulping as a part of him actually believed it.

However, it seemed Amanda's strategy was not yet finished as she added, "Well, unfortunately, I can't say I care for the rest of my hand, so I think I'll use this," the girl activating a spell known as 'Card Destruction'.

Damien stared with confusion as he noticed his entire hand had been forced into the graveyard while Amanda stated, "Now we can each draw a new hand with the same number of cards," the girl drawing three new cards while Damien shrugged and replaced the four he was holding before. He honestly did not mind this too much as none of those cards were able to help him.

However, he was amazed by just how much his luck had changed when one of the cards he drew was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon he had used to defeat Drake. However, it seemed Amanda had drawn a really good card as well as she slapped it down into the spell zone, Damien's eyes almost going wide when the card was revealed to be 'Ego Boost', a spell that increased the power of an attacking monster by one-thousand.

"Like you, I'm determined to end this quickly!" the black-haired woman stated, "As such, I'm pulling out all the stops!"

With that, Cosmo Queen held her hands forward and unleashed a powerful burst of energy, hitting the cerberus hard as its body disintegrated into nothing. With that, the energy hit Damien's mech hard as its vitality went even lower than it should have as it was now down to the exact same number as Amanda's mech, eighteen hundred.

Amanda continued to laugh insanely as Damien was now terrified. Sure, he may have drawn the strongest monster in his deck, but without a means of which to summon it, what could he possibly do? Even after learning how to play Yu-Gi-Oh, it meant nothing when his opponent's monster was this insanely strong.

With that, the man slowly drew a card when he noticed he had 'Monster Reborn' in his hand. He remembered how much that had helped him and he knew that if he used it, he could bring back a monster from his graveyard and likely increase his chances. But unfortunately, this would not help him much as the strongest monster he could return was eight hundred attack points weaker than Cosmo Queen.

It was then that Damien noticed it, a rat aptly named 'Giant Rat'. He then noticed certain words underneath its picture, but this was not like the other cards, which were descriptions of the monsters themselves. It seemed this particular monster had what was known as an effect.

Scarlet had explained to Damien that effects were like spells that the monsters themselves could activate under certain circumstances. With that in mind, Damien read over the description and noticed that Giant Rat could give him the ability to summon a monster from his deck after it was destroyed. Sure, this was not the most sure-fire strategy, but it was the best idea he had.

With that in mind, the man placed the monster face-down in defence mode before ending his turn, Amanda laughing and exclaiming, "Was that really the best you could do!? You really are out of options!"

With that, the black-haired woman summoned another knight, only this one did not have a helmet, wore greenish-blue armour and had blonde hair. He also had an attack of twelve-hundred.

'Good,' Damien thought, 'She summoned a weakling. Now my plan can work without a hitch.'

With that, the knight went in to attack the defending monster only for Amanda to panic when the rat revealed itself. The reason she could not help but panic was because this Giant Rat had a defence power of fourteen hundred and fifty, so when the knight went his sword toward the rat, the rodent used a skull it was holding to blocking the strike.

Amanda waved her arms in panic as a shock wave emitted from the rat, striking her mech hard and lowering her vitality down to fifteen hundred and fifty. However, she would not let this get her down as she spat, "Alright, fine, Cosmo Queen, show that disease-infested rodent who's boss!"

Damien rolled his eyes as the alien held out her hands and unleashed another blast of energy, disintegrating the rat. But while it seemed Damien was defenceless, the man simply shrugged and said, "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to replace him."

Amanda's eyes widened as she gasped, "Oh no, I forgot that Giant Rats could do that!" as Damien looked through his deck. Thanks to Giant Rat's effect, now that he had been sent to the graveyard, Damien could select any Earth Type monster from his deck with fifteen hundred attack points or less and summon it to the field, and he simply went with the first candidate he could find, namely a tan-coloured lizard covered in green leaves named 'Ancient Lizard Warrior'.

Amanda stopped freaking out and sighed, "Oh, right, it only lets you summon weaklings. Big deal."

However, just to be on the safe side, the black-haired woman ended her turn by placing a card face-down in the spell zone. And with that, Damien was ready to finish off his strategy. Things could not have turned out better.

After drawing another card, Damien proceeded to use 'Monster Reborn', Amanda's eyes widening as she asked, "How long did you have that?" the man replying, "I've had it for a couple of turns."

With that, the man used the spell to bring back his Giant Rat Before saying, "It's time to end this," sacrificing both of his monsters in exchange for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Amanda was now in full panic mode as the dragon took form and let out a deafening roar. The black-haired woman was trembling all over as she could not believe this. This was the same monster that defeated Drake, but since Damien had been piloting a different mech at the time, the black-haired woman did not realize it was him. But would this really be enough? After all, Amanda did have a trap face-down and it could have very well turned Damien's strategy against him.


	4. Chapter 4

With Blue-Eyes White Dragon in play, Damien was certain to win now. Amanda was trembling, her teeth chattering as she cried, "This is so unfair! In any other scenario, the alien would be stronger than the dragon!"

"I know what you mean," Damien replied, "I still don't get the logic behind this game."

The two went silent as the man sighed, "Right, time to finish this," as Amanda's panic suddenly left her.

A grin formed on her face as she suddenly remembered her face-down trap card. It had a picture of a transparent orb deflecting a red beam of light and was called 'Mirror Force'.

'Yes, go ahead and attack me with your mighty dragon!' Amanda thought, 'My Mirror Force will destroy it in seconds! You came so close, but in the end, it is I who shall reign supreme!'

But just as Damien was about to initiate an attack, he remembered the card and thought, 'Wait, Scarlet told me to be careful whenever an opponent places a card face-down in the spell zone,' the man then looking through his hand and noticed a card called 'Cold Wave'. The picture was a depiction of the ice age wiping out the dinosaurs, so Damien figured it must have been for freezing monsters. But when he read the description, he noticed it was actually to prevent both him and his opponent from playing and setting spell and trap cards.

With that, the man placed the card into the spell zone as his mech pointed its machine guns forward, unleashing a cold air from the barrels. Amanda's eyes and mouth were wide open as she spat, "NO!" the ice freezing her trap card in place so she could not use it.

With that, Amanda sighed, "Alas, poor Cosmo Queen, I knew her well," Damien rolling his eyes and having his mech point at the soldier and say, "I think I'm gonna attack Blondie over there."

Amanda's eyes widened as she thought, 'No way, he's so smart,' and this thought was certainly warranted. After all, the knight in question only had twelve hundred attack points, so destroying him would guarantee Damien's victory.

And with that, the dragon let out a deep roar and fired a burst of white lightning into the knight. His eyes went wide open as his skin turned to bone, his armour falling to pieces. And as if that was not enough, the lightning continued forward until it hit Amanda's mech hard, the mech sputtering as sparks of electricity flew from it.

With that, Amanda pressed a button as her mech's head opened up, her seat shooting up out of it as the black-haired woman activated a jet pack to escape from the area. Damien blinked as he turned next to him and noticed he had a jet pack as well. He would have grumbled about how no one told him about this, but he did feel rather stupid for not noticing it before.

It seemed the other girl had also been defeated as she was flying out of the cave on a jet pack of her own. And with that, Matt exited the cave with a big shiny rock in his mech's hand and gave Damien thumbs up with the other. The man took a deep breath and wished he could remember how to smile. He felt pretty good right now.

Soon enough, the two returned to the base with the core in hand, Morgan beyond pleased as she asked, "So, did you run into any soldiers along the way?" the general looking as if she wanted them to have had to deal with that.

"Yeah, we had a run-in with a couple of soldiers," Matt replied, "but we made quick work of them."

"I actually managed to blow up my opponent's mech," Damien said as Morgan beamed and exclaimed, "Well, of course you did! You're Emma's son! You were destined for this!"

Damien wanted so badly to tell the general that it was Scarlet who had helped him win the duel, but he said nothing. Sure, Scarlet had taught him the ropes, but he was the one who ultimately used common sense to come up with a winning strategy. In a sense, he had done this on his own.

"Anyway, good job," Morgan said, "You two are free to do whatever you want unless we have another emergency."

"So it's normal for them to attack the base?" Damien asked as Matt shook his head and replied, "Oh no, that rarely ever happens. They only attack us when they have some super weapon that'll likely bring us to our knees."

"Well, good," Damien replied with a sigh, "because I think I deserve a good rest."

With that, the man headed down the hallway, but as he turned the corner, he ended up walking into Cindy who was also turning the corner. The two were rather close as Cindy backed up slightly, her cheeks bright pink as she uttered, "Um, hi Damien."

"Oh, hey Cindy," the man replied as the pink-haired woman asked, "So, I heard you went on your first mission today. How was it?"

"Not as bad as I was expecting, honestly," Damien replied before asking, "Were you off on a mission too?"

"Yeah," the woman replied, "Morgan detected trouble and sent me and Scarlet to check it out, but it was hard. Scarlet did most of the work for me. I wasn't really able to do anything. In fact, I recently had my mech blown up and now Scarlet's alone out there finishing the job without me."

Damien was actually a tad concerned as he had no idea what to say to this. Not being an expert on warfare himself, he considered himself lucky to have even done well against two opponents so far. With that, he scratched the back of his neck before coming up with a supportive response.

"Well, you know, this war stuff is rather hard," he said, "You can't win them all."

"That's the thing," Cindy replied with a sigh, "The truth is, I'm not a very good soldier. I have a passable track record when it comes to missions, but that's only because Scarlet's usually there to help me through it. The only time I ever defeated an opponent was when she was there to deal most of the damage for me."

"Wait, two mechs can fight at once?" Damien asked as Cindy nodded and explained, "Yeah, it's complicated, but it is possible to challenge soldiers to two-on-two battles. If you're lucky, you could even try two-on-one, but it's not usually recommended."

Damien took a deep breath as he was once again at a loss for words. Cindy clearly had low self-esteem, and he was not the kind of person to be giving her advice. However, he did need a way to help her stay positive at least and as such, he asked, "Hey, Cindy, would you like to join me in my room?"

The woman's cheeks were bright pink as he sighed, "I have no sexual intentions, if that's what you're thinking," Cindy letting out a light giggle and replying, "Well, okay. It's kind of lonely without Scarlet around anyway."

With that, the two walked to Damien's room. Matt had not returned yet and the man saw no problem with this. After all, a part of him did not wish for anyone else to see what solution he had come up with for Cindy's negativity.

And it was soon revealed what this was as he opened up the briefcase with his drinks inside and asked, "You know, whenever I feel really down in the dumps, I have a quick drink."

Cindy's eyes went wide with shock as the man pulled out four bottles and asked, "So, what do you prefer? Sangria, Bourbon, Tequila or this stuff I recently discovered, cranberry wine? It's a lot better than the name makes it sound."

After a few seconds, Cindy started to giggle as Damien gave her a cross look and asked, "What's so funny?" the woman breaking out into heavy laughter. It had been ages since she was able to laugh like that and it felt rather good.

"I'm sorry," Cindy said with a big smile, "It's a nice offer, but I don't drink. I've never liked the taste of alcohol. It's just too strong."

"Oh, okay," Damien replied with a shrug before popping off the cap to the cranberry wine and taking a small sip, "I can understand that. It actually took me a couple of weeks of drinking to really get into it."

"Why did you give it so many chances?" Cindy asked as Damien replied, "Honestly, I don't even know anymore. I remember there was a reason I started drinking, but once I developed a liking toward it, the reason slipped my mind."

Deep down, the man was actually lying. He knew full well that his depression over the deaths of his parents was the whole reason he drank. But right now, he did not wish to spoil the mood with such a sad story. After all, he had gotten Cindy to laugh. That was a step in the right direction.

With all said and done, the man rose to his feet and said, "Hey, I got another idea. We could just wander the halls and talk."

Cindy's cheeks turned bright pink. She had never really had a long conversation with anyone except for Scarlet before. And yet right now, she felt like this was just right.

During this time, Drake was wandering the halls when he noticed a woman he had never seen before. This woman in question had long purple hair and a cold look in her eyes. She must have been a new recruit.

The man simply shrugged his shoulders when the woman suddenly turned to him and flashed him a sinister-looking grin. Drake turned too late as she resumed her trip down the hallway, looking straight ahead. The blue-haired man simply shook his head and let out a sigh.

He had to have been imagining things. Why would someone he never met look at him in the way an assassin would look at his next victim?

Whatever the case, Drake simply rolled his eyes and carried on. He noticed his roommate, Aadil nearby as the African man ran over and asked, "Hey, man, what's up?"

"Well, I'm feeling a little better," the blue-haired man replied, "How about you?"

"I'm doing alright," Aadil replied, "Just got back from a mission in the glacier. One of those Crystal City guys tried to take me down but I was stronger."

The African grinned with pride as Drake smiled and said, "I don't doubt that for a second," when he noticed Amanda and her friend walking by with tears running down their faces.

"What happened?" Drake asked as Amanda placed her hand against her forehead and sighed, "Alas, it is dreadful! We both failed our mission horribly and now we've been sent to our rooms as punishment," the blond next to her letting down tears and sniffing, "It's horrible!"

"Did he actually tell you to go to your rooms or was it just a suggestion?" Aadil asked as Amanda sniffed, "Well, he did say 'I recommend going to your room to clear your head'."

"Then you're not being punished," Drake remarked while pinching his forehead, "You act like Glen is unreasonable or something."

"Easy for you to say, general's pet!" the blond remarked before sticking her tongue out, the two heading off as Drake rolled his eyes, Aadil saying, "Don't let them get to you. They're just jealous."

"I know," the blue-haired man replied, "It's just, you seem to be the only one who considers me a friend here. Everyone else just sees me as New Domino's hero."

Suddenly, the intercom came on as the general, Glen said, "I would like to see Drake in my office immediately. I repeat, Drake, office, now."

The other soldiers started talking amongst each other as Aadil shrugged, Drake heading toward the office. What could the general possibly want with him now?

When he arrived, he noticed the purple-haired woman from earlier standing in front of Glen's desk, the man looking up and saying, "Good, you're here."

He then pointed his hand at the woman and stated, "Drake, this is our new private, Taylor."

Drake nodded and held out his hand, saying, "Welcome to the force," Taylor grinning deviously and shaking the man's hand, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The blue-haired man nodded and turned to Glen before asking, "With all due respect, is this all you called me here for? You've never had me greet new recruits before," the general saying, "That's because there's another reason you're here."

Now Drake was interested as the middle-aged man added, "Taylor here has shown incredible promise from her training. She came in here and requested a practice duel with you as she wants to test her skills against our best. Normally I wouldn't waste my precious time putting together such a thing, but I think she's worthy."

Drake blinked as Taylor's grin became creepier, the purple-haired woman saying, "Don't go easy on me, okay, handsome?" Drake letting out a sigh as he knew he had no choice in the matter.

With that, both soldiers were taken to a training facility where people went to test their skills in a pair of test mechs. They chose how much vitality the mechs had and worked with that. Most newcomers often went with the highest number so they could get the most practice in.

"Here's how this is gonna work," Glen stated, "Each of you will only have one thousand vitality points, meaning you'll each have to be very careful not to screw up."

'Good, so I'll be able to end this quickly,' Drake thought as he really did not wish to be doing this right now, Taylor giving a sinister grin while she said, "This should be fun."

With that, the two entered the mechs and placed their Yu-Gi-Oh decks into the slots to start them up. The mechs themselves had very simple designs as they were, after all, only used for training.

Both soldiers drew five cards as Glen stated, "Since Taylor is new, I was thinking of having her go first. Are you okay with that?" Drake shrugging his shoulders and replying, "Yeah, sure."

All the while, the man thought, 'Who knows? Maybe beating a rookie will help me get over my loss last night.'

Taylor drew herself a sixth card and smirked before placing one card face-down in the spell zone, her mech releasing a bright light from the bottom of its wrist to form a giant version of the card. She then activated a spell card titled 'Allure of Darkness'.

Drake rose an eyebrow as she grinned and exclaimed, "Sweet! Now I can draw two cards!" She then did just that. However, the card also required her to discard a dark type monster from her hand, and she went with a monster known as 'Broww, Huntsman of Dark World'.

"Now I get to draw another card!" the woman squealed as Drake blinked, Taylor doing exactly as she said, drawing an incredibly power monster. Her eyes sparkled as she decided to save it. After all, it was a level five monster, so she could not summon it even if she wanted to, or could she?

Either way, she placed one last card face-down and summoned a monster in defence mode. Drake blinked and had to admit, for a first turn, she had managed to do quite a bit.

Even so, the man was fully confident that he could win this as he drew a sixth card of his own. With that, Drake placed two cards face-down in the spell zone and summoned a grey witch with an eye on her forehead. She was a rather weak monster known as 'Witch of the Black Forest', but he saw this as a good way to draw out Taylor's defence monster.

And when the witch held her hands forward and cast a deadly spell, it was revealed that the defending monster was 'Goblin King', an incredibly weak fiend with no base attack or defence points. Drake seemed rather confused by this as he had a feeling the woman could have tried harder.

"Was that the best you had in your hand?" Drake asked, "At least if you had another fiend-type monster out, I wouldn't have been able to destroy him," Taylor sighing, "Alas, you got me. I had no better monsters in my hand," thought he woman was lying. In fact, she had a stronger monster in her hand that she could have used but it did have a weak defence, so it was better that she did not use it yet.

However, Drake was now even more confident that he could win as his turn ended, Taylor drawing her next card. A creepy grin crossed her face as she thought, 'Should I end this now or toy with him a little longer?' the woman sighing, "Alas, what a lousy draw," before summoning another monster in defence mode, though this seemed like a really strange choice.

The monster she had summoned was a metallic stingray known as 'Card Guard'. Not only did it have an attack power of sixteen hundred, but it also had a special ability that rose its attack by three hundred. And considering its defence was only five hundred, placing it in defence mode seemed like the worst move she could have ever made.

Even so, what was done was done and thus it was Drake's turn. The man quickly drew his next card and had his mech burn his 'Witch of the Black Forest' as she cried out in pain and decayed into the floor. Taylor winced and uttered, "That's a pleasant sight."

"Well, at least there was a reason for it," Drake remarked as he replaced the witch with a robot with chain maces for arms. This monster had eighteen hundred attack points and was known as 'Spikebot'. It seemed that Taylor had made a huge mistake not destroying that witch when she had the chance.

And with that, Drake had the robot send one of its hands into the stingray, smashing it to tiny pieces. Drake simply stared and asked, "Why didn't you use that to attack? You could have easily damaged me with that."

"Oh no, you're right!" Taylor exclaimed, "How foolish of me!" Drake staring at Glen with confusion. What did the general see in this woman to claim that she showed great potential?

It seemed he would find out soon as Taylor's next turn started. The woman drew her next turn and smirked, saying, "Alright, that's enough playing around. Time to get serious."

Drake was now even more confused as the woman directed her gaze toward a spell she had been holding since the first turn, a spell with the image of a demon holding a card known as 'Dark World Dealing'. She wasted no time playing it as she said, "Alright, now we each draw one card and discard another."

Drake did as the card effect stated and discarded a weak monster with a mere three hundred attack points. However, the monster in question was an odd-looking creature known as 'Gren, Tactician of Dark World'. This monster's effect allowed him to destroy one of Taylor's trap cards, and he ended up choosing one known as 'Dark Deal'.

"Big whoop," Taylor said with a shrug, "I would have lost all my vitality if I used that one anyway."

'So she left it as bait?' Drake thought as the woman a grey demon that looked exactly like the one on her spell card. Drake's eyes widened as the card in question was 'Sillva, Warlord of Dark World', and if this monster was discarded, it could be special summoned from the graveyard, and Taylor did just that as the beast took form and let out a threatening growl.

"I've been waiting all this time for a moment to use him!" Taylor exclaimed, "Granted, I could have used him at any time, but I wanted the satisfaction of beating a stronger monster than that weak witch of yours."

Drake could not believe it. She had this monster and the means of summoning him this whole time and only decided to take advantage of that now. Was this some kind of sick joke to her?

But it did not end there as Taylor activated another spell known as 'Gateway to Dark World'. This allowed her to bring back any monster with 'Dark World' in its name back from the dead, and she chose Broww with his fourteen hundred attack points.

And to end her summoning phase, Taylor placed one last monster on the battlefield, a red demon with a black spiked headband named 'Newdoria'. Drake could not believe his eyes. She had this all planned from the moment she saw her opening hand.

"Well, you've proven yourself okay," Taylor said with a smirk, "but this isn't good enough. You need to evolve past such simplistic methods."

To make matters worse, none of Drake's trap cards were of any use to him in this situation. One would have helped him if his monster was a fiend-type, but it was not. And his second one was more beneficial to Taylor right now than him.

With that, Sillva sent a blast of dark energy into Spikebot as it exploded, the energy hitting Drake's mech as its vitality went down to five hundred. Then with that, Taylor grinned wickedly and said, "Lights out, soldier."

And with that, the woman had both of her remaining monsters finish him off. Since this was a training exercise, the mech did not explode but even so, Drake had lost. And he had been defeated easily. Taylor could have just as quickly ended it all on her second turn, but instead she waited for a moment that she knew would be more humiliating.

Glen simply applauded the woman and exclaimed, "Bravo, Taylor! Bravo!" the woman exiting her mech and giving the general a bow. Drake, all the while, slowly stepped out of his with his eyes wide open. He still could not wrap his head around this. At least when he fought Damien, he had stood a chance, but this woman had him on a leash the whole time.

But to add salt to the wound, the woman then walked over to Glen and gave him an army salute before saying, "With all due respect sir, I think I'm far more skilled than Drake. As such, I think I should be your number one soldier instead."

The blue-haired man's eyes widened. It was not the loss of his title that got to him but rather what losing that title would mean for him. It would mean that he could no longer take charge during a battle or volunteer for the most dangerous of missions. He had wanted to end the war with Crystal City on his own but now this newcomer had taken that away from him.

Or at least that was what he thought. The man was soon proven wrong when Glen replied, "Well, you did display some incredible skill, but I think it's too early to make a decision like that. I'll need to see more results from you in the future."

"Yes, sir!" Taylor replied with a grin as both were dismissed, Drake letting out a sigh as he did not even say anything to Taylor, let alone look at her. Right now, he was far too bitter over having lost to new recruits twice in a row, one of them being a member of the New Domino Army no less.

However, while Taylor walked the halls, she looked rather peeved as she thought, 'What the hell is wrong with that dumbass? He saw how good I was! I should be taking his job!'

She then took a deep breath and thought, 'Soon, Taylor. Soon it'll happen, just not now.'

And with that, both soldiers headed to their quarters. Aadil was wandering the halls when he noticed his roommate and ran over, asking, "You were gone for a while. What happened?" Drake sighing, "I don't wanna talk about it."

All the while, he was trying to figure out something he could do to prevent Taylor from one day taking his title away from him. But right now, he needed to clear his mind. Hopefully, tomorrow would show more promise for him.


	5. Chapter 5

The following day was a fresh start as Damien awoke with a yawn. After yesterday, he decided it might be best not to have another drink and as such, the man decided to wander the halls, especially since Matt had clearly gotten up for breakfast before he had. Due to his constant drinking, Damien had a tendency to sleep longer than most others.

While he walked down the hallway, he noticed Cindy walking in the opposite direction and said, "Morning," in a rather mellow tone.

"Good morning, Damien," Cindy replied with a light smile, "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess," Damien replied with a shrug, "I'm just hoping my next mission is another team effort. As you can probably guess, I'm still not really an expert at this."

"You'll be fine there," the pink-haired woman stated, "You're still new. It's a rule that soldiers are never sent on a solo mission for the first month. Trust me, you won't have to worry about a thing."

Damien nodded and asked, "Quick question. You said yesterday that the missions you succeeded in were the ones with Scarlet helping you. Is it always Scarlet joining you for team missions?" Cindy shaking her head and sighing, "Oh no, there's always been diversity. Morgan likes pairing soldiers up with different people from time-to-time to build trust. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at that."

The woman let out a sigh as Damien had no idea what to say to that. After all, he had been antisocial until he joined the army. The fact that he was able to have a conversation with Cindy after having known her for two days was a miracle.

Meanwhile, at the New Domino headquarters, Aadil was walking down the hallway with Drake and having a conversation with him. However, this would have to wait as the man was called to Glen's office. He simply shrugged his shoulders and headed off while Drake nodded in understanding.

As the African man arrived, Glen grinned and said, "Excellent timing as always, Aadil. You're always so quick to respond."

"So, what am I doing today?" Aadil asked as Glen replied, "Well, we picked up on a special part that can increase the attack strength of a certain type of mech located in the rainforest. It's a fist of some kind. I want you to go and pick it up."

The African man gave an army salute before saying, "You can count on me, sir," Glen grinning and replying, "I know I can. Now go and make me proud."

All the while, Damien had been called to Morgan's office as she stated, "I got your next assignment planned out. You're gonna be going to the rainforest."

The man nodded, clearly not caring what location had was sent to as the woman added, "Apparently, there's some kind of metal fist there that can power up the attack strength of a mech by two hundred. It's nothing too special, but it can definitely help us in the long run."

"So you want me to get it for my mech, right?" Damien remarked as Morgan said, "No, your mech's strong enough as it is. Besides, it's impossible to make modifications to such an old model. I was thinking of giving one of the newbies a break."

Damien simply blinked and shrugged in response. He dared not question the way she said that as if to imply he was a veteran or something along those lines, but at the same time, it was refreshing to hear that she was not playing favourites like she had since she forced him to join.

"So, any questions?" Morgan asked as Damien replied, "One question. Who's my partner going to be."

"Oh, you'll be going alone," the woman replied with a grin as Damien stared silently. He could swear he heard crickets chirping as he said, "You know I haven't been here for a month, right?"

"Oh, good, somebody told you about that policy," Morgan replied, "I keep forgetting to tell you these things. But regardless, you're already such a pro that you don't need backup."

Soon enough, Damien was in the hanger, though he was certainly not happy. Once again, Morgan had lacked common sense with her decision and he had no choice but to go along with it. He still felt unfit for this sort of thing.

But as he boarded his mech, he took a deep breath and said, "Get it together, Damien. Just remember your lesson and you'll be fine," the man wishing he had snuck one of his drinks on board.

Even so, he had a powerful mech and a deck that had proven itself useful up to this point. Perhaps he could do this after all. Besides, he was a grown man now. He needed to be able to handle things on his own.

And with that, the mech took off from the base toward the rainforest. And it was not long until everyone in the base heard of how Damien had been sent on his first solo mission despite having only been in the army for three days.

Steven was one of the first to hear of it as he went to one of the other soldiers and said, "Man, I feel sorry for whoever crosses his path!" another soldier adding, "That Damien might get Morgan's job some day."

Even Matt had a feeling Damien could do it, but there were two specific individuels who were not so sure. Those two in question were Cindy and Scarlet. They were the only soldiers who knew that Damien did not fully understand Yu-Gi-Oh yet and as such, they could not help but pray that he did not run into more than one soldier from New Domino if any at all.

Aadil had arrived a few minutes before Damien did as he looked around with a metal detector installed into his mech. This particular mech was orange, fairly thin and had a pair of knives as weapons.

The African man looked around and said, "Well, it would seem the coast is at least clear. This might be a quick one after all."

However, his tune changed when a giant eagle flew at him and struck the side of the mech's head. This ended up taking a bit away from its vitality as Aadil growled and had his mech hurl its knife into the eagle's back. That seemed to be enough as he used a magnet on the mech's hand to bring the knife back.

"Normally I'd see that coming," the man grunted before noticing his mech's vitality had dropped from three thousand to twenty-five hundred. His mech had been made for speed and as such, it did not have much of a defence against animals. But regardless, he would not let this get him down.

During this time, Damien was flying around when his own metal detector picked up on the fist. The man took a deep breath and thought, 'Thank god,' before looking around to make sure there really was no one else nearby. At the very least, his first solo mission had been easy.

But just as he was about to fly over to it, his eyes almost widened when he noticed a certain orange mech flying toward the fist at a much quicker speed. Damien tried his best to fly over to it but Aadil was four times quicker and as such, he easily got hold of it with a grin on his face.

"Well, that was nice and quick," Aadil said as Damien noticed that the enemy soldier had not seen him. As such, he knew there was only one thing to do. Sure, he could have tried to get away and avoid a battle, but he knew that if he gave up, Morgan would never shut up about it.

As such, the black-haired man slowly made his way behind Aadil just as the African was making a call to Glen to report that he had the item. However, his eyes widened as Glen asked, "Something wrong?" Aadil nodding and replying, "Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you back."

But before he could turn around, Damien had already pressed the red button to initiate a duel with the soldier. With that, the sides of his mech opened up and unleashed two small orbs that formed a transparent sphere around the two, both mechs saying, "One-on-one battle engaged."

Aadil's simply let out a sigh and said, "Oh well, guess I'll take a little longer getting back," Damien wanting to make a comeback but not feeling like he had the right to make any bold statements.

However, his confidence rose a bit when he noticed that the orange mech only had twenty-five hundred vitality. Perhaps this would be easier than expected. All Damien would need to do was have his most powerful monsters out and he would be fine.

"You got yourself a strong mech there," Aadil said with a smirk, "You might actually be a challenge for me," Damien once again saying nothing in response.

With all said and done, both soldiers drew their cards as Damien took a deep breath and drew a sixth one. He was rather relieved by this hand as it showed a lot more promise than his last two starting hands. But two particular cards stood out to him, one being a trap and the other being a monster with sixteen hundred defence points.

With that, Damien wasted no time placing each one face-down as his mech used burst of energy to summon each to the battlefield. And with that, he ended his turn as Aadil smirked and thought, 'Good, I can start my counterattack early.'

With that, the African man placed two cards face-down in the spell zone and then proceeded to think carefully about his next move. He had a monster with a total of nineteen hundred attack points that could be summoned without a sacrifice. That would have been more than enough for whatever Damien had in defence mode, especially since his other two monsters were rather weak. However, he had another strategy in mind as he summoned a weak monster face-down in defence mode.

"You're not going to try and attack?" Damien asked as Aadil fibbed, "I would, but I got nothing powerful enough."

With that, the African smirked and thought, 'Alright, let's see if this guy's dumb enough to fall into my trap.'

Damien drew another card and looked over his options. He had one monster with fifteen hundred attack points. Combined with his face-down monster, this seemed like the ideal choice, especially since he could use them both next turn to summon a level seven monster he had in his hand.

But then he noticed two others, a level five demonic angel known as 'Dark Witch' and a centaur with two lion heads named 'Twinheaded Beast'. While the Dark Witch was stronger, Twinheaded Beast had a special ability that would allow him to deal seventeen hundred damage to Aadil directly.

'Dammit, what would Scarlet do at a time like this?' Damien thought as Aadil sighed, "I'm waiting!"

The man took a deep breath and remembered something Scarlet had told him during their lesson. The redhead had shown him two similar cards, one with a very high attack power but no effect while the other had a low attack power but a very powerful ability. Since the ability itself would likely make the duel easier, she came to the conclusion that the weak monster was more worth it than the powerful monster.

With that in mind, Damien took a deep breath and said, "You'll wish you were able to attack me sooner," the man sacrificing his face-down monster in exchange for Twinheaded beast. However, Aadil was not the least bit intimidated as the centaur let out two loud roars.

With that, Damien pressed the attack button as Twinheaded beast formed a fireball in each of its hands, hurling them both toward Aadil's face-down monster. However, the African smirked and said, "Good idea, but you fell right into my trap."

Damien was taken aback as Aadil flipped over a card titled 'Relieve Monster'. With that, his mech held its hand out and opened up a door on its hand, sucking in the defending monster like a vacuum. After that, the mech proceeded to launch white and blue dragon with a spear-shaped snout, the dragon deflecting the flames and striking Twinheaded Beast hard in the chest.

Since this monster's attack was nineteen hundred, Twinheaded Beast was easily taken care of as a big hole formed in its chest, the centaur letting out a loud cry of pain and falling hard on its side. Damien winced as the dragon rammed its snout into his mech and lowered his vitality down to thirty-eight hundred.

"Spear Dragon's effect forces him into defence mode after he attacks," Aadil explained, "but my trap will make sure that doesn't happen."

And with that, the African proceeded to flip over a trap titled 'Final Attack Orders', which forced every monster on the field into attack mode with no ability to change their positions. And to make matters worse, Damien's trap card did not help him in the slightest as his turn came to a close.

And of course, the man knew this was only going to get worse. Since he had no monster on his side of the field, Aadil could attack him directly with not only his monsters but also his own mech. But as if that was not enough, Damien simply could not believe the turn of events. He had used the very logic Scarlet recommended and yet it had failed him.

"It's a shame this had to end so soon," Aadil said with a grin, "I was hoping for at least a slight test of my skills."

With that, the man summoned the monster he had used to defend earlier, a dragon clad in yellow armour named 'Dragunity Javelin'. Its attack power was only twelve hundred, but since Damien had nothing to protect himself, this hardly mattered as both dragon struck him hard, bringing his vitality down to seven hundred. And to make matters worse, Aadil proceeded to have his mech hurl its knife hard into Damien's mech, dealing five hundred damage as it went down to two hundred vitality.

"I'll be honest," Aadil said, "I actually do have a card that could have ended this right away, but I wanna see you try and weasel your way out of this."

Damien breathed heavily as he had no idea what to do. Sure, he had a monster that could deal with his Spear Dragon, but it was level seven meaning he could not make use of it. Right now, all the man could do was pray that his next card would be able to help him as he took a deep breath and drew.

Unfortunately, the card was an equip spell that only worked on a monster that he did not have in his hand. In fact, he did not even know that he owned the monster it was meant for as he breathed heavily, his eyes opening a few millimetres wider with fear. Now he finally realized just how serious this was. If he lost, he ran the risk of not only dying but also having his mother's mech totalled, and since it was an old model, he knew it could not be rebuilt.

With that in mind, Damien took a deep breath and thought, 'Please don't get on my case for this, Morgan,' before pressing a button labelled 'Abort'. Just like when Drake had used it, this activated an emergency function in his mech that allowed it to drop the spherical battlefield and fly away from the area.

Aadil blinked and said, "I guess he had nothing left. At least he has common sense."

With that, the African man called up Glen and said, "Sorry to cut you off. Just wanted to let you know I got your part," before flying back toward the base.

When Damien's mech returned, Morgan was there to greet him as she waved happily. However, her happiness slowly faded when she noticed the mech was not holding the fist she wanted. Did this mean what she thought it meant?

Many others were gathered around as well, including Matt and Steven, when Damien parked his mech in its resting place and exited with a sigh. Morgan being there to find out the bad news was bad enough, but having at least a quarter of the army there to listen in on their conversation was even worse.

"Well, it's good to see you back safe and sound," Morgan said with a grin, "So where's the new part? I'm guessing you must have retrieved it."

"No I didn't," Damien remarked as everyone stared, Morgan's eyes going wide as she asked, "Could you not find it?" a suspicious look in her eyes as she added, "Curses, those New Domino guys must have gotten to it first! If only they hadn't been so crafty, you could have stopped them!"

Damien could have played along with this lie, but he had to face facts. He had lost the duel and it should not have mattered so much to him whether or not the others found out.

"Actually, I ran into the soldier who claimed the part," Damien said as everyone stared, the man adding, "I noticed his back was turned to me, so to get the upper hand, I initiated the battle from behind."

"Smart thinking," Morgan replied with a grin as Damien sighed, "Unfortunately, he had an insanely powerful deck. I wasn't able to land so much as a hit on him. He brought me down to two hundred vitality in just one move."

Everyone stared silently as Morgan asked, "Wait, are you yanking my chain? You came back in one piece. That tells me you must have had an amazing counterattack!"

"No I didn't," Damien remarked, "I knew that if I went down to zero, my mother's mech would explode and I didn't want to risk losing something so valuable. You told me it couldn't be modified, and I'm guessing it couldn't have been rebuilt, could it?"

"What are you saying, roomie?" Matt asked as Damien continued to look at Morgan and ask, "Is my assumption correct?"

"Yes," the general replied, "You're right. That old mech is made from really old parts. We can clean it and bring its vitality back to full, but you're right. Rebuilding it would be impossible."

"Then I guess I have no regrets," Damien replied as Matt asked, "No, seriously, where are you going with this? You didn't quit, did you?"

"What do you think?" Damien remarked with a look of irritation as everyone in the area gasped, Steven exclaiming, "But... but you're my new idol! You can't be a quitter!"

Damien gritted his teeth and retorted, "Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" everyone staring in stunned silence as he grunted, "Morgan, I know you think I'm some kind of expert just because my mother was this great war hero, but I didn't even know how to play Yu-Gi-Oh until recently, and even with some basic knowledge, I'm far from being an expert! Maybe I'm not good enough to pilot this mech, but one thing is for certain! I am not my mother, so stop treating me like I am!"

Morgan had a look of shock on her face as she looked down and sighed, "I'm sorry, Damien. I guess maybe I put too much pressure on you. If you need a break, go ahead, and if you'd rather leave the army and never come back, I won't stop you."

The man took a deep breath and said nothing else before storming out of the area. No one else had anything to say to this. It was not that they did not understand but that they did not want to believe what they had heard.

With that, Damien retreated to his room an immediately opened his liquor bag. He figured right now, a drink was just what he needed. He would get drunk, pass out for the rest of the day and leave first thing in the morning. It was perfect.

But just as he popped the cap off of his tequila, he stared briefly at the bottle. Sure, he may not have cared about what most people in the army thought of him, but there were two individuels who had helped him settle in. Scarlet was able to tell right off the bat that he was no expert and yet she treated him like he deserved his title and helped him get better. Meanwhile, Cindy had been so kind to him despite the fact that the two of them had started off on the wrong foot.

However, he figured he would need to forget about them as he tilted the bottle sideways. But just as the liquid was about to come out, Matt, Scarlet and Cindy all entered the room with their eyes wide open.

Matt and Cindy stared with concern as Scarlet gritted her teeth and marched over to the man. Damien blinked, not sure what was going on until the redhead sent her fist hard into his cheek thus sending him flying into the wall. His Tequila flew out of his hands as the bottle landed hard against the floor and shattered, the contents soaking the carpet as Matt.

"Goddammit, why do you keep hitting me!?" Damien groaned as Scarlet remarked, "This time, it's for being an idiot!"

"But you know I never wanted this!" Damien retorted as the redhead sighed, "Look, I know it was wrong for Morgan to force you into the army like that, but drinking yourself into a coma is not going to fix anything!"

Cindy nodded and whimpered, "I don't want you to leave, Damien," Matt sighing, "Look, maybe we did set our expectations too high. I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I feel partly responsible for this."

"No, you're not to blame for this," Damien sighed, "It's my own incompetence. I'm clearly not fit for this job. Those first two victories, they were flukes. I just know it. Today I used the best strategy I could come up with and lost miserably. Some soldier I am."

Matt was not sure what to say as Cindy said, "But Damien, I told you yesterday that I've never won a duel on my own. No matter how hard I try, I've never succeeded, but I keep trying because I feel like one day, I might be able to do it."

Scarlet nodded and added, "Besides, have you already forgotten when you accomplished yesterday? Most newcomers are often relegated to low level missions, ones that hardly mean anything and that only New Domino's weaklings would be chosen for. You, on the other hand, went on a high level mission, duelled one of their top-ranked soldiers and won. No other newcomer has ever pulled that off."

Damien stared as Scarlet sighed, "Again, I know it was wrong for Morgan to force you, but you have potential. You just need to learn to use your deck and I can help you with that. If you still want to leave, I guess I can't control your life, but I really think you have what it takes to at least be a good soldier."

The man took a deep breath and started to think deeply about what she had said. After all, what else did he have in life? This was the only job he showed minimal success in. No one else would hire him, so what could he possibly go back to?

However, before he could make up his mind, Matt thought of his own two cents as he asked, "Just out of curiosity, what did the mech look like?"

Damien shrugged as Scarlet understood what he meant and said, "Yeah, I'd like to know that too," Cindy not completely understanding why this mattered.

"Well, it was orange," Damien replied with a look of confusion, "It was rather skinny and it had a knife as its main weapon."

"Oh my god, no wonder you lost so easily," Matt remarked as Damien asked, "Why? Is the pilot someone really strong?"

"Try New Domino's second-strongest soldier, Aadil," Matt stated, "Good lord, you're lucky his big attack didn't finish you off!"

Now Damien was curious as Scarlet sighed, "We've all faced him at one point and believe me, none of us stood even a small chance against him. We all had our mechs brought down to zero vitality at his hands. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yeah, he's the strongest opponent I've ever faced," Cindy squeaked as Damien blinked and sighed, "And to think I was beating myself up over this."

The man then took a deep breath, looked at Scarlet and asked, "Are you sure I have what it takes to be a success?" the trio nodding as the redhead replied, "I know you have the potential."

Of course, Damien had forgotten how to smile, so rather than doing that, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Alright, I'll stay then," Cindy smiling bright and giving the man a big hug. Damien's eyes almost managed to widen as the pink-haired woman tensed up, released her hold on him and giggled nervously.

The other two were just as happy to have Damien stick around while Damien himself felt a bit of happiness as well. For all he knew, this could very well be his calling.


	6. Chapter 6

The night went by rather well. Despite Damien's loss, he slept more soundly than ever before and without the assistance of alcohol. It was all thanks to his new friends, Matt, Scarlet and Cindy. All three had helped him see his true potential and he was ready to start fresh tomorrow, especially now that Morgan was finally willing to listen to him.

And the following morning, Damien got up with a positive attitude. Sure, his face did not show it, but the feeling was certainly there. In fact, Damien had actually woken up early for a change so he could have breakfast with his new friends.

After getting dressed, he and Matt headed toward the cafeteria as the orange-haired man asked, "So, you're sure you're okay, Damien? I mean, you made a rather quick recovery."

"I'm fine," Damien replied, "It's weird, though. I can't remember the last time I ever truly felt happy about something, let alone considered someone a friend."

"Wait, are you talking about me?" Matt asked as Damien nodded and added, "Well, you and the girls."

"Good to know," the orange-haired man replied, "But wait, if you're truly happy, why aren't you smiling?" Damien sighing, "I forgot how to long ago."

Matt stared blankly at him for a few seconds before laughing and replying, "Good one!" only for Damien to remark, "That wasn't a joke. I really don't remember how to smile."

Matt gave the man an awkward stare after that before shrugging his shoulders and saying, "So long as you're civil on the inside."

And soon enough, the two arrived in the cafeteria where Cindy and Scarlet were already waiting for them. Upon seeing the men, both girls smiled and waved. Cindy did feel a tad nervous having two men sitting at the same table as her, but at least she had been around Damien enough to feel comfortable around him. Matt, on the other hand, had only officially become an associate of hers today.

"So, Damien, feeling any better today?" Scarlet asked as Damien nodded and replied, "Of course."

The redhead and Cindy stared silently as Scarlet sighed, "Forgive me if I have trouble believing that."

"By the way, I have a question for you," the man said, "Every time I duel, I notice there are these purple cards placed that just suddenly place themselves right next to the spell zone. For reason, they're always face-up and I can't draw them. What are they?"

Matt just about face-palmed as he asked, "You seriously don't know about fusion?"

"You have fusion monsters too?" Scarlet asked, Matt sighing, "She's one of the few soldiers here who has one."

"Can I see them?" the redhead asked as Damien shrugged and pulled them out of his deck, showing them to her. Scarlet nodded with a rather impressed look on her face.

"Wow, you have seven in total," the redhead stated, "And they're all elemental heroes. So does that mean you have a bunch of those somewhere in your deck?"

"I dunno," Damien replied with a shrug, "I haven't seen a good portion of my deck yet."

Matt and Scarlet both fell back in their seats while even Cindy could not believe what she had just heard. Scarlet then got up slowly and grunted, "You seriously haven't so much as looked through your deck?"

"Well, no," Damien replied, "I only care about what cards I have when I'm in a duel. I figure after a few more duels, I'll have finally seen my entire deck."

"Oh god, do you not understand how important it is to know your deck!?" Matt retorted as Damien gave him a confused look, the boy sighing, "In order to get a good sense of strategy, you need to know exactly what's in your deck. That way, you'll know if there's a card somewhere at your disposal that can help you under difficult circumstances. It also gives you a chance to figure out various combinations you can try out."

Scarlet nodded and said, "Let me take a look at your deck," Damien nodding and handing all of his cards over to her, the redhead flipping through them and saying, "I found a good example. First off, check out these cards."

She then held up a monster named 'Elemental Hero Sparkman' and a spell known as 'Spark Blaster'. Damien stared in wonder as he said, "So that's the monster I can equip that to."

"There, see?" Scarlet remarked, "Don't you feel better knowing that?" Damien blinking and replying, "Actually, that does feel pretty good. That way if I draw it without Sparkman in my hand, I'll know there's a possibility I can use it later."

Scarlet nodded and added, "I also recommend studying your fusion monsters. That way you'll know which two monsters can fuse with them," Damien asking, "How does fusion work?"

Cindy nodded and added, "I have quite a few fusion monsters in my deck, so I can fill you in on that. See, if you have all of the correct monsters in your hand, on the field or a mix of both, you cast a spell called 'Polymerization' and thus you can replace the two monsters with the fusion monster."

"So does it come to my hand if one of the monsters is still in it?" Damien asked as Scarlet replied, "Nope, fusion summoning is a special summon, meaning it's an addition monster to add to your side of the field. That means you can still normal summon another monster."

"This game gets more and more confusing everyday," the black-haired man groaned while Matt patted him on the back, Damien adding, "Still, that's kind of a cool concept. I hope I get to try it sometime."

With that, the man rose from his seat and stated, "Anyway, I have something I need to take care of before I forget. Thanks for the advice," Scarlet sighing, "No problem, but seriously, we really shouldn't have had to tell you to look through your cards."

Damien rolled his eyes and replied, "Yeah, you might be right," Matt asking, "You will look through them, right?"

Damien did not respond as he headed toward Morgan's office, Scarlet and Matt hoping that Damien would take their advice. After all, he certainly needed it.

Meanwhile, at the New Domino headquarters, Aadil was wandering the hall with Drake as always, Drake sighing, "I'm starting to wonder if Glen considers me his top soldier anymore. He hasn't sent me on a mission lately," the African man sighing, "He's always saved you for the most important missions. This is nothing new."

"I know, but I feel like I need to beat someone in a mech battle again to feel useful," Drake remarked, "If my rank goes down even by one level, he might not trust me for the really important missions again."

Aadil took a deep breath when suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind Drake and said, "Why not sneak off and go on your own mission?"

The two men turned and and noticed Taylor standing right there, Drake asking, "Are you suggesting I break the rules? Are you trying to get me in trouble?"

The purple-haired woman rolled her eyes and remarked, "Look, you're searching for a way to restore the general's trust in you, right? Well, if you want to do that, you'll have to beat one of those Crystal City soldiers and prove that you still have it."

"Forget it!" Drake retorted, "I may be desperate, but not desperate enough to violate orders! I know that if I do this, I'll likely have my rank lowered."

Aadil nodded and replied, "Good call. Glen still isn't angry at you yet. No sense pushing your luck."

"Fine, do as you please," Taylor said with a shrug, "Just giving some helpful advice is all."

With that, the woman walked off as Drake rolled his eyes and resumed walking with Aadil. However, he was starting to think about her suggestion. What if Glen considered him a hero for doing that? If anything, going on a mission without being told could be a sign of initiative. But he did not know that for sure.

Meanwhile, Damien had entered Morgan's office as the woman blinked and asked, "Oh, Damien, are you alright today? Can I offer you a glass of water or something?"

"I'm fine," Damien replied, "I just want you to know I've decided to stay in the army and I'm willing to accept missions again."

"Are you sure?" the general asked as the man thought, 'Now she actually gives a shit about what I have to say,' before replying, "Yes, I'm certain of this. I may not be ready for highly advanced solo missions yet, but I'm sure if you sent me on, say, a medium level team mission, I might be able to handle it."

Morgan nodded and replied, "Well, I was going to send Cindy by herself to scout for jet pack fuel in the Emerald Mountains, but if you'd like to join her, I can send you as her partner. After all, just between you and me, Cindy's not very good at solo missions."

Damien refused to acknowledge the fact that he already knew this. Morgan talking about this behind the pink-haired woman's back was already bad enough. Though a part of him did want to ask Morgan why she would even send Cindy by herself if she knew about the woman's track record.

Even so, the man was happy to accept this as Morgan gave him the instructions, telling him to give them to Cindy as soon as he saw her. It would save the general the effort of having to do so herself.

And soon enough, Damien did just as instructed as the pink-haired girl flushed pink and nodded in understanding. But why had she reacted like this? Was it really that awkward for her to go on a mission with someone other than Scarlet? That would have normally been the case, but this time, Cindy felt like she had a different reason. However, she could not quite put her finger on it.

Either way, the two would take off soon, but it seemed their mission would not be as easy as they figured it would be. Currently, Glen was asking a buff man with short brown hair and what looked like the toughest chin in existence to also look for fuel.

"Are you serious?" the tough man remarked as the general sighed, "Look, Bruce, I know you're too good for missions like this, but I've already sent all of the lower-rank people to take care of other stuff. You were the first to come to mind."

"Well, why not wait until you have more soldiers available?" Bruce remarked as the general gave him a cold stare and retorted, "Out jet packs are getting low, okay!? If we run out, it might not be possible for our soldiers to escape from harm if they lose! And are you questioning authority right now!?"

Bruce rolled his eyes and said, "Alright, I'll go, but I'd better get a real mission after this," the tough man heading toward the hanger while Glen slapped his forehead.

The tough man was soon in the hanger as he entered a big green mech that resembled a gorilla wearing a battle helmet. Despite Bruce's rank not being among the highest, he had one of the strongest mechs in New Domino with a vitality of sixty-two hundred. Needless to say, Damien and Cindy would have their work cut out for them if they ran into him.

Currently the two were out in a mountainous region digging for oil with special drills that Morgan had given them for the mission. As for where they kept the oil, the mechs had big containers latched to their backs.

Cindy piloted a slender pink mech with a baton strapped to its side as its weapon. Damien did find this rather obvious but also quite fitting as the woman seemed the type for that sort of thing.

"I have to admit, this is easier than I thought it would be," Damien said, "Who knew you could find so much oil in mountains?"

Cindy nodded and said nothing. She still felt nervous being on a mission with Damien right now, but she still could not figure out why. After all, Damien was the first person aside from Scarlet, let alone the first man she considered a friend. What reason did she have to be nervous around him?

"Hey, Cindy, I gotta ask you something," Damien said as the pink-haired woman turned to him and asked, "What is it?"

"How did you and Scarlet become such good friends?" the man asked as Cindy blinked and replied, "It was very long ago, but we met in kindergarten."

"You've known each-other that long?" Damien remarked as the pink-haired woman replied, "Yes. See, some grade four girls were picking on me and wanted to steal my lunch. Then Scarlet came and saved me from them. Sure, she and the other girls were sent to the principal's office, but I thought was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me. No one else ever jumped to my defence before. I just knew that Scarlet was someone I could trust."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me too much," Damien replied as Cindy sighed, "I have a confession to make. Like you, Damien, I never wanted to join the army. Even now, I really don't think it's the sort of thing I should be doing."

"Then why don't you quit?" Damien asked, "Unlike me, you might actually have a chance at a good future," the pink-haired girl replying, "It's because I want to work in the same place as Scarlet. She's always been passionate about being a soldier and protecting Crystal City, so I stay for her sake."

Damien rose an eyebrow while drilling a hole into the side of a mountain and asking, "Well, have you ever told Scarlet how you feel about being a soldier?"

"She's always known," Cindy replied with a sigh, "She even told me that she wouldn't sign up if it would make me happy, but I didn't want to ruin her future like that, so I joined up. My Mommy had a deck of cards that I could use to get in, so she gave it to me."

Damien nodded and said, "You're a good friend, Cindy. I don't think I could have ever brought myself to make such a sacrifice for someone else before."

Cindy's cheeks were even brighter now when suddenly, the two heard the sound of another drill nearby. Cindy trembled as Damien had his mech hold its finger in front of its face to imply a 'shush' sound. After all, their whole mission was simply to get fuel for their jet packs. Surely they could afford to let New Domino have some as well.

However, Bruce did not seem to think so as he suddenly noticed the two, gritting his teeth and saying, "I knew I'd find some of you Crystal City soldiers here. Are you trying to steal our fuel?"

Cindy squeaked in fear as she trembled in her seat, Damien sighing, "Look, it's just jet pack fuel. We'll let you take as much as you need as long as you leave us alone."

The reason Damien was even suggesting this was not just because getting in a fight could very well risk the loss of the oil they had now, but he knew Cindy would rather avoid having to partake in a duel. However, Bruce did not seem to think so as he remarked, "Oh no, if I let you return with any of that oil, I won't be able to call myself a soldier."

Cindy was in full panic as Damien stated, "I'll take this guy. You go back to the base," the pink-haired woman knowing that might have been the better option. However, something about her being with Damien gave her more courage than when she was with Scarlet. Perhaps it was the fact that Damien was also a tad insecure about his abilities, but whatever the case, Cindy wanted to fight alongside him.

As such, when Damien quickly pressed the 'engage' button before Bruce could realize what was going on, Cindy pressed hers at the same time. As such, the slots of both mechs opened up and unleashed a total of four orbs, all four forming a bigger sphere than usual as all three mechs stated, "Two on one battle initiated."

Damien blinked and turned to Cindy, asking, "What are you doing?" as the woman gulped and squeaked, "If you're going to take this guy, I'm going to help you!"

Damien concern left him as he nodded and said, "Alright, if that's what you want."

Bruce, all the while, gritted his teeth and cursed, "Dammit! I had so much time to get the first move!" Damien sighing, "It's your fault for not taking action sooner," the man then turning to Cindy and asking, "Say, you've been in a two-soldier duel before. How do these work?"

"From what I can remember," Cindy explained, "in a two-on-one battle, the single soldier gets a turn after each of ours, meaning if you go first, he'll go and then it'll be my turn."

Damien stared silently for a while and shrugged, saying, "Makes more sense than any other rule in this confusing game."

With that, all three soldiers drew five cards each, Bruce looking over his opponents to see how much of a disadvantage he might have. While Damien's four thousand vitality was a tad alarming, Cindy's vitality of a mere twenty-four hundred seemed like nothing. As such, he figured that perhaps she should be his first target so he could quickly go from two opponents to one.

"Wait, we both initiated the duel," Damien uttered, "Which of us is going first?" Cindy's mech saying, "Your move. Please draw one card."

Cindy squeaked, panic in her eyes as she whimpered, "I'm first?" Damien having his mech pat hers on the shoulder as he said, "It's okay. You can do this."

'Oh god, this is gonna be easier than I first thought,' Bruce thought, 'What a waste of time. Maybe I should have just let them go.'

Cindy looked over her cards and whimpered before noticing one of her monsters had eighteen hundred defence points. And since it was a level four monster, she could use it. At the very least, she felt that would protect her. After all, there were not a lot of monsters below level five that could overpower that.

And with that, she ended her turn with a sigh of relief as Bruce asked, "That's it? I hate to disappoint you, but that defence of yours isn't going to help much."

With that, the tough man proceeded to summon a monster of his own. Damien and Cindy were both equally shocked when he ended up summoning a metallic serpent dragon with twenty-one hundred attack points known as 'Cyber Dragon'.

Damien noticed five stars on the card itself and exclaimed, "Hey, what the hell!? How did you summon a high-level monster without a sacrifice!?"

"It's because of Cyber Dragon's special ability," Bruce remarked, "As long as my opponent has a monster out and I don't, I can special summon this monster. Speaking of which, I still have a normal summon to make."

Cindy trembled while the man summoned a green alien clad in high-tech armour named 'Cybernetic Cyclopean'. Thankfully, it only had fourteen hundred attack points, but even so, that was still a lot of damage for Cindy to take in.

With that, the woman closed her eyes as Bruce had his dragon destroy her defending monster, which was a blue and white robotic monkey holding its arms in front of its face. Needless to say, this did not stop the incoming burst of light energy from blowing it up, its oil spilling around its parts.

And with that, Cybernetic Cyclopean proceeded to fire a beam from its eye into Cindy's mech as she cried out in panic, the mech's vitality going from twenty-four hundred to one thousand. Now Cindy was in extreme panic as Damien looked at her with concern.

"It's okay," the man said with a sigh, "You took in one hit. It's not the end yet. Don't forget, you're not alone."

Cindy nodded and took a deep breath, Bruce saying, "Yeah, yeah, how about you prove to me that you're a decent ally?"

"Fine," Damien remarked as he drew another card. As he looked over them, he noticed that all of the monsters in his hand were elemental heroes. He could not believe the irony. He had only just heard about them and now he had managed to draw a total of three on his first turn. And to make things even better, the card he had just drawn was 'Polymerization'.

"Why are you stalling?" Bruce grunted, "You got a pathetic deck too?"

"Actually, I have a perfect way to take care of both your monsters," the man remarked as he looked over the heroes, noticing two major stand-outs. One was a man in a green bird costume named 'Avian' and the other was a woman dressed in red spandex known as 'Burstinatrix'. And to make things even better, he remembered one of his fusion monsters required these two in particular.

"Alright, time for you to eat your words, tough guy," Damien stated as he activated Polymerization. His mech held out its hands as it summoned both monsters from Damien's hands, both swirling around each-other like a vortex and combining. Together, they formed a tall green man with a pink right arm, the hand on that very arm being a dragon's head. He also had a pink dragon's tail and a single bird wing on his left side and went under the name 'Elemental Hero Flame Wingman'.

Cindy's eyes sparkled as she now had confidence, Bruce's eyes going wide as Damien added, "Oh, one last thing."

With that, the man proceeded to summon a man clad in blue and gold armour named 'Sparkman'. And with that, he also equipped it with the very spell card shown earlier, Spark Blaster, the mech sending a small sphere of energy toward the hero's hand and forming a pink laser gun for the hero to hold onto.

"No!" Bruce exclaimed as Damien added, "According to Spark Blaster's description, my Sparkman can use this to change the position of any of your monsters, so since my Flame Wingman has the same attack power as your Cyber Dragon, I think I'm gonna have to change it to defence mode."

Bruce gritted his teeth with fury in his expression, Sparkman using his blaster to strike the dragon as it curled up to defend itself. Since its defence power was sixteen hundred, this was perfect for Damien as Flame Wingman fired a burst of flames from his dragon head.

Cyber Dragon roared in pain as its entire body melted into liquid and sunk into the ground. Cindy clapped her hands with excitement in her eyes while Damien had Sparkman charge toward Cybernetic Cyclopean and send a punch powered by electricity into his gut. The alien coughed up green blood before falling backward, his body decaying into nothing. And to make things better, Flame Wingman's ability was to inflict damage equal to the victim's attack power to the opponent, thus Brutus' mech took in a shock wave that brought his vitality down to forty-one hundred.

Bruce gritted his teeth while his vitality went down to thirty-nine hundred. However, he had to keep a level head right now. After all, Brutus still had lots of vitality left and had plenty to fight back with. This was but a minor setback.


	7. Chapter 7

After a rather bad start for Cindy, Damien had miraculously turned the duel heavily in their favour by not only summoning a strong monster, but also using his first fusion. And now Bruce was starting to realize just how difficult this might be.

'Clearly the man piloting that mech is the strong member of the team,' the tough man thought, 'I figured he would be weaker than the mech's vitality implied seeing as he's been sent on a medium-ranked mission, but I clearly underestimated him. I was going to take care of the girl first, but it might be better to do away with him before he becomes even more of a threat.'

Damien ended his turn by placing a card face-down in the spell zone and thought, 'Wow, that turned out really well. Maybe I should get more fusion monsters for my deck or maybe more copies of that Polymerization card.'

Cindy beamed and gave him a thumb up with her mech as the man had his mech do the same. However, as happy as Cindy was, she did feel rather ashamed of the fact that Damien was the only one who had done anything of value.

However, Damien was starting to feel his own sense of negativity right now as it suddenly dawned on him that he had used up every single card in his hand with that last move. Now he could not help but pray that Bruce had nothing to respond to that with.

Bruce drew his next card and noticed it was another Cyber Dragon. However, he had a feeling that he should very well hold onto it. Now may have been a perfect opportunity to use it, but this did not seem like a good idea to him. With that in mind, the man summoned a monster face-down in defence mode and placed one card face-down in the spell zone. With that, the man ended his turn.

With that, it was Cindy's turn as the woman drew a card and bit her lower lip. Most of her monsters did not look that impressive and she knew she could not make use of the two spell cards she had. However, she noticed one monster with a very high attack power, a green humanoid bean with beans for hands and feet, a bean-shaped shield and a short sword. This was 'Jerry Beans Man'.

There was no way Cindy was going to have Damien be the only one attacking. As such, the girl summoned her monster as the bean knight took form and pointed his sword forward with a proud grin. Bruce then smiled menacingly and thought, 'I figured she wouldn't have much to work with.'

Cindy hesitated for a second as Damien said, "Don't worry, Cindy. That's a powerful monster. I doubt whatever he had face-down would be enough to overpower it."

Cindy bit her lip and nodded, saying, "Okay," before pressing the attack button as Jerry Beans Man charged toward the defending monster with his sword at the ready. However, Cindy clasped her hands over her mouth, Damien uttering, "Uh oh," when the monster was revealed to be a blue demon clad in armour named 'Cyber Archfiend'. This monster had a defence power of two thousand, so Cindy's monster was no match for it as his sword bounced off.

A shock wave emanated from the opponent and hit Cindy's mech hard, bringing its vitality down to seven hundred and fifty. The woman's confidence left her as Bruce stated, "You would have been better off leaving that monster in attack mode and nothing else."

'No,' Cindy thought with a look of terror on her face. She had always felt so useless during duels as this was not the only time her partner was the one doing all the work. Even when she duelled alongside Scarlet, she would always just defend herself while the redhead dealt all the damage for her.

Either way, Cindy had nothing left she could do as she ended her turn, Damien now concerned. For all he knew, Bruce could very well finish her off in one go.

"Alright, it's time I show you losers exactly why I'm one of the best New Domino has!" Bruce exclaimed as he drew his next card. With that, he smirked and sacrificed his Cyber Archfiend in exchange for a mage made entirely out of silver and clad in a metallic-looking robe. This monster was known as 'Cybernetic Magician' and had an attack power of twenty-four hundred.

Damien gulped as he was now feeling nervous, Bruce grinning and saying, "I was planning on finishing off your friend first, but honestly, I have nothing to worry about with her. You, on the other hand, have proven to be a pain in only one turn! I think it's obvious who I should take care of first!"

Cindy was now terrified as she squeaked, "No, finish me this turn instead! Then you'll only have one opponent to deal with!"

"Cindy, don't provoke him," Damien said as Bruce remarked, "Don't worry about your friend. Even if she pleaded me to finish her off first, I've made up my mind. You're my prime target right now and nothing's gonna change that!"

However, what the black-haired man failed to realize was that he was at more jeopardy than he could have imagined as Bruce smirked and said, "Oh yeah, I got something that'll make this even easier."

With that, the man flipped over his face-down card to reveal a trap called 'Rising Energy'. At the cost of one card from his hand, Bruce could use this card to bring his magician's attack up to thirty-nine hundred. And with that, Cybernetic Magician held his staff forward and sent a burst of magic toward Flame Wingman.

Damien gritted his teeth as the fusion monster took in the magic hard, his body decaying as all that remained was the hero's skeleton. The magic blast then continued forward and struck Damien's mech as his vitality went down to twenty-two hundred.

Cindy's eyes widened as she squeaked, "DAMIEN, ARE YOU OKAY!?" the man taking a deep breath and grunting, "I've had better days, but I think I'll be fine."

With that, Bruce grinned and exclaimed, "Yeah, how's that for payback!? Bet you wish you hadn't messed with me, now, don't you!?"

Cindy was frightened out of her mind now, even more so than before. Just as soon as things had picked up, they had gone downhill and it was all because she did not have a monster strong enough to deal with Bruce's Archfiend. She could not help but feel useless as Damien's turn started.

Damien's next card was a demonic girl with tiger skin clothes named 'Thunder Nyan Nyan'. She certainly seemed like a decent monster to have with an attack power of nineteen hundred, but Damien knew she would not be of use. As such, he had no choice but to place her face-down in defence mode and end his turn, especially since his trap could not help him.

And with that, Damien turned Sparkman's card sideways thus causing the hero to hold his arms in front of him defensively and let out a sigh saying, "Alright, it's your move, you jerk."

Bruce nodded and said, "Come next turn, I'll be attacking you directly, so watch out," before summoning a lobster with a skull for a head named 'Mad Lobster.' This was certainly a threatening adversary as it was only level three but had seventeen hundred attack points.

Cindy's fear only continued to increase when Bruce had Cybernetic Magician send a magical blast into Sparkman, the hero meeting the same fate as Blade Wingman. Damien gritted his teeth as Bruce smirked, saying, "Only one monster left. I wonder what's gonna happen to it."

Damien let out a sigh and replied, "Well, I have an idea of what might happen," as he flipped over his face-down trap card and revealed it to be 'Chthonian Blast'.

"I gotta thank you for summoning that lobster," Damien said, "Now I have a reason to use this," as Bruce gritted his teeth. This was certainly a card worth fearing as if it was activated after a monster was destroyed, the monster with the lowest attack would be taken down and both soldiers would take in damage equal to half the monster's attack power.

And with that, the ground started to open up under Mad Lobster's feet as a huge volcanic explosion came up, turning the crustacean into bones and soon blowing those up, the bones flying into Bruce and Damien's mechs.

However, Cindy was still worried as Damien's vitality went down to thirteen hundred and fifty while Bruce had three thousand and fifty. Needless to say, the tough man was still a major threat and now Damien had made himself easier to take down.

"You're either very brave or very foolish," Bruce said with a smirk, "Though then again, I guess that wouldn't have made too much of a difference. I still would have taken you down in one hit thanks to my Cybernetic Magician.

Damien said nothing as Cindy whimpered, "He's right. I can't do anything," Damien taking a deep breath and replying, "You're fine, Cindy. I'm sure you have something that can help."

The woman whimpered and took a deep breath, drawing a card with her eyes closed. She then slowly opened one eye and noticed that this card could actually help. It was the trap 'Negate Attack' and she knew this could definitely be of use.

With that, the woman placed it face-down while looking over her monsters. She had one monster with a defence power of eighteen hundred, though right now, that did not seem all that useful. But that was always her strategy, using whatever monster could protect her the most.

"Hey, do you have any monsters with useful abilities?" Damien asked as Cindy asked, "What?"

"Well," the man replied, "something Scarlet told me was that before summoning a monster, you should take into consideration what abilities the monster might have. For all you know, the monster with the lower power level could prove to be of more use."

It was then that Cindy noticed a demonic train named 'Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive'. Its effect allowed her to draw another card if it was flip-summoned, meaning if it was first placed face-down then flipped over through any means, even if it was attacked and destroyed, she would have a new card added to her hand.

Since high defence power would not be enough to help her, she figured it was time to finally start playing smart. As such, the woman placed Dekoichi face-down, switched Jerry Beans Man to defence mode and ended her turn, Bruce saying, "So you decided to use more than one card. Big deal."

Damien had a feeling Cindy had something planned but said nothing as Bruce smirked, saying, "Well, I hope you enjoyed that extra minute inside of your mech, because you're not gonna be in it by the end of my turn."

With that, the man summoned what looked like a hybrid between a robot dinosaur and a Hercules beetle named 'Dark Catapulter' and was ready to take down Damien's defending monster. But just as he was about to have the dinosaur attack, Cindy bit her lip and said, "I won't let you do that."

With that, the man was taken off-guard when a swirling vortex appeared in front of his Dark Catapulter and stopped its attack with a bright light. And since the vortex remained there until the end of Bruce's turn, he could not attempt another attack.

With that, the man's turn came to a close and he sighed, "Alright, so you've stalled me a bit longer. Big deal."

However, Damien could not have been more proud as he had his mech give Cindy thumbs up. The pink-haired woman could not believe it. She had just done something really helpful that did not involve being a human shield for her partner.

And this proved even more helpful as the card Damien drew next was Pot of Greed. The man wasted no time playing it thus allowing himself to draw two cards. And the combination he got was fairly decent as not only did he get a monster with eighteen hundred attack points, but he also got a spell card that increased that by three hundred.

With that in mind, Damien proceeded to summon his monster, known as Hysteric Fairy, in attack mode, a young man with big angel wings and a librarian outfit on appearing before them. Bruce failed to see how this was a huge improvement for Damien until the man equipped the monster with his equip spell, Silver Bow and Arrow, bring the fairy's attack power up to twenty-one hundred.

"Oh no," Bruce groaned as Damien had his Hysteric Fairy attack Dark Catapulter. With that, the scholar proceeded to pull back on the string before unleashing an arrow into the dinosaur's chest, the robot roaring in pain as the arrow sent multiple cracks down its body, causing it to fall apart.

Bruce fumed as the arrow continued its flight, hitting his mech hard and bringing his vitality down to nineteen hundred and fifty.

And with that, Damien's turn was over as Cindy let down a light tear. Sure, she had not really done all that much, but it was thanks to her trap card that she had even managed to pull that off.

However, her happiness left her when she remembered that Damien's monster was only still in attack mode, but his attack power was still lower than that of Cybernetic Magician. And of course, Bruce noticed this too as he smirked and said, "Well, I have to admit, you two are just full of surprises. But even so, all of your efforts are in vain."

With that, the man summoned another Cybernetic Cyclopean, Damien staring in confusion, his mech mirroring this as the tough man asked, "What, never seen a deck with more than one copy of the same card?"

"Can't say I have," Damien replied with a shrug as Bruce remarked, "Whatever, your luck has run dry. You're gonna find out why I am deserving of such a powerful mech."

With that, he had Cybernetic Magician destroy Hysteric Fairy, sending a magic blast into the scholar as he cried out in pain and turned into bones. And of course, this resulted in Damien's vitality going down to one thousand and fifty. And since Bruce still saw little point in attacking Cindy, he proceeded to have Cybernetic Cyclopean send an eye beam into Thunder Nyan Nyan, the demon crying out in pain as she fell hard on her back, her body turning to ash.

Now Cindy was once again scared as Damien turned to her and said, "Cindy, this may be our last chance to take him down. I might end up losing my mother's mech, but I just wanna say that you've been a good help so far. Even if you don't take him down this turn, I hope at the very least you can finish what we started."

Cindy's eyes sparkled as she put on a serious look and thought, 'No, Damien. I'm going to make sure your mother's mech remains in one piece. I don't know how I'll do it, but I will.'

When the woman drew, she noticed that the card she had drawn was a pickup truck with eyes named 'Truckroid'. Her eyes widened as she thought, 'Could that possibly be my next card?' the woman sporting a serious look and flipping over Dekoichi.

Bruce stared silently and asked, "Why would you put something so weak in attack mode?" the woman remarking, "Because of its ability!"

With that, she drew her next card, her eyes going wide once again as the next card was exactly what she needed. It was an ambulance with big cartoon eyes known as 'Ambulenceroid'. Neither monster was that powerful on its own, but both of them could be fused together to form a more powerful monster.

It was then that Cindy remembered her two spell cards that she had been holding since the duel began. One of these was called 'Power Bond', and it could be used to fuse two machine type monsters together. To top it all off, once the machines were fused, the fusion monster's attack would be doubled. The only downside was that if she did not finish off her opponent the turn this card was used, she would take in damage equal to the monster's initial attack power, and considering she only had seven hundred and fifty vitality left, this was not a good thing.

Because of this, Damien's attack earlier was perfectly timed as now Bruce was just low enough in vitality for this to work. With all this in mind, Cindy placed Power Bond in the spell zone as Bruce's eyes widened, Ambulanceroid and and Truckroid both emerging as a small factory formed around them, many different sounds such as drilling, fire lighting and bolts shifting coming from inside.

And after a few seconds, the factory vanished into the ground to reveal a big firetruck with cartoon eyes known as Ambulance Rescueroid. Its initial attack power was only twenty-three hundred, but thanks to power bond, that had increased to forty-six hundred.

"No," Bruce uttered, his body twitching all the while. He could not believe that his super powered deck had been beaten, especially when he was so close to defeating both soldiers.

"You should have finished me off when you had the chance," Cindy said in an intimidating tone, which was shocking as the woman had never come close to that before.

With that, Cindy turned to Damien who had his mech nod its head at her, the woman smiling bright and initiating an attack. The firetruck raced toward Cybernetic Magician and rammed its bumper hard into his gut, the mage coughing up oil and falling hard on his back, the truck then running over him and causing his parts to fly in various different directions.

One part, the arm to be exact, flew hard into Bruce's mech as its vitality went down to zero, the tough man's eyes twitching as the mech started to sputter. With that in mind, the man ejected himself from the mech just in time to avoid being caught in an explosion and flew off into the distance, a look of actual fear on his face. He could not remember the last time an opponent had actually scared him, and right now, he did not care who saw it.

Cindy watched him fly off in stunned silence as she could not believe what had just happened. Not only had she contributed to their success, but she was the one who dealt the final blow.

Damien simply turned to her and had his mech pat hers on the shoulder, saying, "Good job, Cindy," the pink-haired woman blushing brightly and squeaking, "I didn't do much."

But deep down, she had impressed herself. She had done more than ever before and this was also her first time using a fusion monster.

Soon enough, the two managed to fill their containers up with oil and returned to the base. Morgan was rather happy to hear of their success, but she was surprised when Damien gave her a report of what had happened. Cindy was too shy to say anything, so it was up to him to explain everything, how they had been attacked by a soldier with a powerful mech and how it was Cindy who ultimately won them the duel.

"Well, I'm impressed," Morgan said with a grin, "Cindy, I didn't think you had it in you."

Damien narrowed his eyelids as she blinked and asked, "What?" Cindy forcing a serious look and saying, "I only hope I can do better from this day forward. I swear, I will do my best to make sure this isn't just a one-time thing."

Morgan stared silently before laughing and exclaiming, "I never thought I'd hear those words from you! You've really grown!" Cindy blushing lightly.

Soon enough, Damien and Cindy returned to their respective quarters. Damien felt pretty good about today as Matt asked, "How was your first medium-rank mission?"

"Pretty good," Damien replied. He did not feel the need to go into extreme detail.

Cindy, on the other hand, was so shocked by everything that had happened that she went on a tangent about how amazing things had gone when Scarlet asked her how her mission went. Scarlet could not help but smile and listen to her friend talk nonstop about how she was the one who guaranteed their victory. It seemed perhaps Damien was a much more valuable asset to the team than anyone would have expected.

During this time, however, Bruce returned to the base with the same scared expression. Many soldiers stared at him as he slowly made his way toward Glen's office to give his report. But before he could arrive, Drake and Aadil turned and stared in silence.

"Oh my god, he looks like he just saw a ghost," Aadil uttered as Drake replied, "Oh no, ghosts don't scare Bruce. Looks to me like he saw a clown."

"Bruce is scared of clowns?" Aadil asked as the blue-haired man replied, "Yeah, I won that information out of him in a practice duel."

Taylor, all the while, stared and asked, "Who's that nervous wreck?" Drake sighing, "He's one of our top soldiers. I've never seen him freaked out before, though," the men then turning toward her and barking, "How do you keep doing that!?"

And soon enough, Bruce was in the office. He had given his report as Glen blinked and sighed, "So, back up. You mean to tell me you were beaten by two medium ranked soldiers?"

"I don't think they were medium rank at all," Bruce uttered while rocking back and forth in the chair, "One of them displayed the skills of a high ranking officer, but there was this girl among them."

"You mean woman," Glen remarked, "Only adults are allowed in the army," Bruce ignoring his words and adding, "So, yeah, there was this girl among them and she seemed like a total weakling, but oh no. I could tell by the end of it all she had been playing possum the whole time as she was the one who finished the job. She waited until both mechs were almost totalled and whipped out a last-minute sneak attack."

Glen rubbed his temple, feeling rather annoyed by this conversation. He could just tell that Bruce was exaggerating the events to a considerable degree. Even so, Glen figured the tough man needed a break and sent him off to his quarters.

However, it was not so much Cindy finishing him off that scared Bruce. It was her final statement and how confident she sounded when she said it.

'You should have finished me off when you had the chance.' Those very words would haunt Bruce's mind until he died. He was certain of it.


	8. Chapter 8

While tonight was a rather nice one for the Crystal City soldiers, the same could not be said for New Domino. Drake was having trouble sleeping as Aadil rubbed his eyes and asked, "Hey, what's wrong? You've been staring at the ceiling for, like, ten minutes."

"It's nothing," the blue-haired man replied, "Just thinking about stuff."

"Oh, you'd better not be thinking about what Taylor said earlier," Aadil retorted, "Look, I'm not sure if she's trying to look out for you or not, but it would be best not to disobey orders. That is the one thing worse than losing here. I know why you need your rank and I don't want you to lose it because of your pride."

"I'm not thinking about that," Drake remarked with a sigh, Aadil staring at him for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and replying, "Well, alright. Just making sure."

With that, the African man yawned and closed his eyes, Drake taking a deep breath. As it just so happened, he was thinking about Taylor's words. After all, he wanted to prove that he was still Glen's top soldier, that the general had not made a mistake when giving him such an important title. He wanted to go out and defeat a member of the Crystal City army as soon as possible, but he had not been assigned a single task since he had failed to blow up the base.

Of course, he also wanted to know the name of the pilot who destroyed him. From what he had heard, Amanda thought she had faced the exact same soldier. Though she was merely going off of the fact that he owned a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the monster that had defeated Drake.

It was not so much that he respected the soldier. Oh no, he wanted vengeance, something he had never wanted before. He wanted to prove that his loss to that man was nothing more than a fluke. After all, how could a complete amateur defeat him so easily?

Eventually, his train of thought ended when fatigue finally took over. The man let out a yawn and closed his eyes. But come tomorrow, he would go out and make the general proud.

The following morning after breakfast, Matt was called down to Morgan's office. The man entered with a grin and asked, "Hey, what do you want me to do today? Find another core? Extract plasma from the Sapphire Gorge?"

"Oh no, today's mission is much more important than that," the general replied, "And it's one I know only you would be happy to take on."

Matt blinked and was now curious as the general added, "I want you to go to the Ruby Swamp and find me a red diamond with incredible power. They say any mech to have this installed will receive fifteen hundred additional vitality."

The orange-haired man nodded and replied, "Well, you can count on me," the man giving an army salute before heading off.

During this time, Drake was wandering the halls when suddenly, Taylor crept up behind him and poked him on the shoulder. The man's eyes widened as he turned and groaned, "Seriously, do you have to sneak up on me like that?"

"Yes," the purple-haired woman replied with a smirk before asking, "So, have you thought about my suggestion yesterday?"

Drake took a deep breath and replied, "Yes. I hate to admit it, but I think you might have been onto something. If I keep lingering in the back while making no effort to do anything, I'll never be able to make up for the humiliation I received that day. So I'm gonna do it."

"Well, good," Taylor said with a grin before whispering, "By the way, I got word of a very important assignment. Glen just assigned it to me, but I think you'd be better off taking it instead. Basically, there's a powerful red diamond in the Ruby Swamp and I just know some powerful Crystal City soldier is gonna go for it. This sounds perfect for someone of your status and power."

Drake's eyes widened as he nodded and replied, "You're right," the man giving a light smile and saying, "I wasn't sure if I could really trust you, but I have to admit, you're a good ally."

Taylor nodded and replied, "I do my best," before adding, "I'll make sure to hide myself until you get back. After all, the general thinks I'm going on this mission, right?"

"Good thinking," Drake stated as he headed off. Nothing was going to stop him now, he just knew it.

But as he left, Taylor had a wicked smirk on her face. She could not believe how easy this had been. The man had once again fallen into her trap and he would soon realize just how serious this was.

During this time, Matt had just taken off and was headed toward the swamp. He had a look of excitement in his eyes as it seemed Morgan was right. Most soldiers absolute detested the swamp and saw it as the worst place to go on a mission, but Matt did not mind it at all. In fact, he rather enjoyed the atmosphere. He saw it as the perfect place for combat.

"Alright, if I was a super rare diamond, where would I hide?" the man asked himself jokingly. He did have a tracking device to help him out, but it did not seem to be working. Whatever this diamond was clearly did not give off the frequency most diamonds did otherwise he would have at least known what direction to go in.

While the orange-haired man continued his search, Drake was also in search of it. However, unlike Matt, he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Like most people, he hated the swamp and it was not because of its rancid odour or dreary look but because he knew the creatures here were some of the most dangerous.

And the blue-haired man would soon have his fears realized when he noticed a giant snake slithering by. The man readied himself for combat only to end up surprised when the reptile completely ignored him.

However, he realized he might need to fight soon when a giant frog latched its tongue around his mech. Drake took a deep breath and sighed, "You picked the wrong soldier to mess with."

With that, he had his mech sprout a second pair of arms, having all four shift into blades. With that, the mech cut the amphibian's tongue by a tenth as it blinked and hopped off in panic. It would be a long time until it got over that pain.

However, after making his escape, Drake ended up jerking backwards a bit as the mech's back ran into a tree. With that, he ended up losing two hundred vitality and sighed, "Whatever, that's minor."

However, he then noticed the snake from earlier had passed out. It was then he noticed that it had been cut up by four robot samurais and a certain green mech with a katana.

Matt took a deep breath and said, "Wow, that was annoying. Thank you, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke and Sasuke," all four robots bowing their heads before returning to the man's deck.

Drake blinked and thought, 'Why does this mech seem familiar?' before shrugging his shoulders and realizing without a doubt that the pilot was a Crystal City soldier. With that in mind, he would waste no more time. The diamond would come later. Right now, all he cared about was defeating a soldier and keeping his title.

Meanwhile, Taylor was simply lounging around in the New Domino base when Glen walked by, the man discussing mission details with a couple of other soldiers. The general stopped as he slowly turned and snapped, "Private, stand up!"

Taylor turned her gaze toward him and sprang up from her seat, giving an army salute and replying, "Sir, yes, sir!"

"I should not have had to tell you to do that!" the man grunted while rubbing his temple, "What the hell are you doing here right now!? I gave you an assignment! For all I know, Crystal City might already have it!"

"I was about to take off when I ran into Drake," Taylor replied with a sigh, "See, he was so desperate for a chance to clear his image, that he insisted he take my place and go on the mission instead. I reminded him that such a thing was against the rules, but he said 'Screw the rules, I have status'."

Glen gritted his teeth as Taylor added, "I tried to get him to stop, but he assured me that you'd be okay with this. I mean, you are okay with it, right?"

Glen's fury continued to rise as he fumed and spat, "Alright, when Drake comes back, he'll be demoted!"

"Oh my!" Taylor gasped, faking shock while the general stormed off with the other two soldiers by his side. When he had walked far enough, the purple-haired woman snickered and said, "Sorry, Drake. It's nothing personal, but I just had to do it."

Matt was just about to continue his search for the diamond when Drake came up behind him and pressed the big red button to engage him in combat. Matt's eyes widened as a transparent sphere formed around the two, the man turning and sighing, "Oh well, guess it was inevitable."

However, when he saw the mech that he challenged him, his and his mech's eyes widened as he spat, "OH NO, NOT YOU!" Drake smirking and saying, "At least you Crystal City soldiers still see me as a threat."

Matt breathed heavily as Drake drew his five cards without hesitation, the orange-haired man sighing, "Alright, get it together. You're only face-to-face with New Domino's strongest. It's nothing to worry about."

The man then took a deep breath and thought, 'No, I gotta be strong. I'm a top ranked soldier. Someone like me shouldn't be freaking out no matter how strong the opponent is. If I go down, I'll at least go down trying.'

Though this would be difficult, especially since Matt's mech only had twenty-nine hundred vitality. Hopefully he would have a good enough strategy to get around this disadvantage.

With that in mind, the orange-haired man drew five cards of his own as Drake said, "I hope you're ready to have your plans fall apart."

With that, the blue-haired man looked over his hand and placed two cards face-down. Unfortunately, the monsters in his hand were not that promising. He had two high level monsters, one of which could not be normal summoned and one with a mere eight hundred attack points and one thousand defence points. Even so, it was still better than nothing as he placed the weak monster in defence mode and ended his turn.

Matt smirked and said, "Alright, Drake, prepare for your second loss," Drake thinking, 'Best he doesn't know I've already suffered that.'

With that, Matt drew his next card and grinned at his hand. He was at a bit of a crossroads between two particular monsters, though. One was Kojikocy, the warrior with fifteen hundred attack points. However, the other was a falcon in knight armour named 'Hayabusa Knight' with only one thousand attack. Sure, Kojikocy was more powerful, but Hayabusa had the special ability to attack twice during the battle phase.

With that in mind, Matt decided to take a chance. After all, he would need to think more logically when going up against Drake and he would have to deal damage as soon as possible if he even hoped to win. Besides, he had just a drawn a spell card that could benefit him greatly.

With that in mind, Matt summoned the bird as he took form, both of his swords at the ready while Drake thought, 'Good, his monster's too weak.'

However, Matt grinned and said, "I know you probably think your monster will stop mine with its defence, but I got my own answer to that."

With that, the man proceeded to place a spell card with a picture of a running boar in the spell zone. This was known as 'Rush Recklessly' and it increased the attack of a monster by seven hundred for the turn it was played.

However, when Hayabusa Knight went in to attack and revealed a metal snail tucked in its shell, Drake smirked and said, "Nice try," revealing his own trap, a card called 'Pole Position'.

"Wait, what?" Matt asked as Drake stated, "When Pole Position is in play, the monster with the highest attack power isn't effected by spell cards, meaning your spell is useless."

Matt's jaw dropped as Hayabusa knight rammed each sword separately into the snail only to deal no damage. The only upside was that the Mechanical Snail's defence was equal to the knight's attack, so Matt took in no damage from this.

However, the man was still worried. Since his monster was so weak, it would be easy for Drake to take advantage of this. And whatever Drake had planned Matt would experience soon as his turn was over.

Drake took a deep breath and said, "That wasn't bad strategy. I'll admit, if it hadn't been for my trap, I would have taken in a lot of damage. Even so, you should have saved that card for an emergency. Would have helped you a lot more this turn."

With that, the man proceeded to sacrifice his snail in exchange for a big stone wall. Matt was confused by this. The wall had three thousand defence but no attack points, so why had Drake summoned it in attack mode?

Soon all became clear, though, when he equipped it with a spell card known as 'Magical Labyrinth', a dark vortex forming on the front of the wall. Matt's eyes widened as Drake asked, "Tell me, do you know what happens when Labyrinth Wall is equipped with this card?"

Matt and his mech both nodded in response as Drake replied, "Good. At least you know what's gonna happen," the man then having his mech fire a blast into the wall as it seemed a monster had been transferred into it. This was proven true when a green ghoul covered in red eyes emerged from the vortex and was bound to the wall.

"Say hello to my Wall Shadow," Drake said with a grin, "You'll find that he's a lot more frightening than the creature living under your bed."

Matt would have responded to that horrible attempt at sounding intimidating if he did not know what would happen next. And with that, the ghoul stretched out its body until it came face-to-face with Hayabusa Knight, using its claws to scratch the bird's armour open before striking him hard in the chest.

Blood flew from the bird's chest as he crowed in pain, falling hard on his back as his body decayed into nothing. And with that, Matt's vitality went down to twenty-three hundred, the orange-haired man gulping in fear.

"And I guess that ends my turn," Drake said as Matt took a deep breath and drew another card.

The card he drew was not particularly useful. It only had one thousand attack and an effect that would not benefit him all that much. However, he then remembered another monster in his hand, a robotic samurai dressed like a shogun and wielding a spear named 'Sasuke Samurai Number Four'. Sure, its attack and defence were weak, but it had the ability to destroy any opponent regardless of attack difference, but a certain condition had to be met.

Even so, Matt knew he would have to take the chance as he summoned the robot. His mech sent a blast of energy in front of it as Sasuke took form, holding its spear threateningly with a serious look in his eyes.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Drake asked as Matt smirked and remarked, "You'll see."

With that, the samurai charged at Wall Shadow as the blue-haired man rolled his eyes and sighed, "Did you forget how powerful my Wall Shadow is?" Matt remarking, "Do you know Sasuke Samurai Number Four's Effect?"

And with that, Matt's mech whipped out a big coin and flipped it into the air as the soldier exclaimed, "I call heads!" only for the coin to land on 'tails'.

Matt's eyes and mouth were wide open as Wall Shadow sunk into his wall, Sasuke ramming his spear into it as the head shattered into tiny pieces. The samurai's eyes widened in panic as Wall Shadow's hands emerged and grabbed hold of the spear, the shadow pulling the owner inside with it. And soon enough, oil flew out of the vortex as Wall Shadow emerged covered in the stuff, shaking it off before hurling the samurai's helmet hard into Matt's mech.

The orange-haired man's eyes and mouth remained wide open as his vitality went down to nineteen hundred. There was no doubt about it, he was screwed.

"That was a ballsy move, but not good enough," Drake said as Matt's turn ended, the blue-haired man drawing a card.

Of course, Drake did not even care about his next draw as he knew he could just end the duel right here and now, and he intended to do so. He started his turn by having Wall Shadow attack Matt directly, bringing his vitality down to three hundred. And with that, the blue-haired man had his mech turn its arms into blades and charged at Matt's mech.

Once close enough, the green mech received multiple slashes as it started to sputter, its vitality going down to zero. Matt immediately grabbed hold of his jet pack and launched himself out of his mech, taking a deep breath. And with that, he flew off with a look of shame on his face.

Losing was one thing. Deep down, he had a feeling this would happen. But he had gone down so quickly and had not even dealt so much as one hit. Drake really was a dangerous man.

While Drake searched for the diamond, Matt eventually returned to the base with a sigh. All he had left to do was find Morgan and give her his report. After all, she needed to know that he had failed.

Damien, Scarlet and Cindy were currently wandering the hall when they noticed him. They could see the shame on his face as Scarlet asked, "Hey, is something wrong?"

Matt blinked and forced a grin, replying, "No, everything's fine," Cindy asking, "You just went on a mission, right?"

Matt said nothing in response as Scarlet sighed, "You failed, right?" the orange-haired man sighing, "Yeah. I just have to give my report now," before walking down the hall as Damien said, "He's taking his loss almost as bad as I took my first one."

"Yeah, it's not like him to let a loss get him down," Scarlet replied with a shrug, "Hope he gets over it."

And with that, Matt entered Morgan's office and gave her the news. The woman blinked and asked, "You lost that easily? Wow, I expect that kind of result from Steven, not you."

"Well, I was facing off against Drake," Matt replied as the woman blinked and sighed, "Geez, no wonder you lost. Look, I know it's hard for you to deal with losing so easily to someone, but Drake is really strong. Trust me, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Matt had to admit that did help him feel better as he left the office. Though just as soon as his spirits lifted, they deteriorated. There was a reason such an easy loss got to him.

His family excelled in the game of Yu-Gi-Oh and the best was his grandfather who used the exact same deck that Matt had now. Sure, most of the monsters in the deck had low attack power, but Matt's grandfather always knew how to work well with it.

When Matt was given the deck in his grandfather's will, he felt a great deal of responsibility. He was determined to master the deck as well, so to use it so horribly hurt him inside. Even so, Morgan had a point. Perhaps he needed to get over this.

Though Morgan was secretly upset beyond compare, especially knowing that Drake had likely found the diamond and returned it to New Domino's headquarters. And little did she know just how right she was.

At this moment, Drake had returned to the base with the diamond in hand. But when he landed, he noticed an angry Glen standing there with his arms folded.

The blue-haired man gulped, now unsure of whether or not this was good. However, Glen's mood did seem to lighten a little bit when Drake held out the diamond to show that he had it. Even so, the general was still upset with him for breaking the rules for his own selfish benefit.

And soon enough, he was in the man's office as he sighed, "Drake, your position is a very important one. I know I don't ask much of you, but that doesn't mean I consider you unimportant. If anything, it means I consider you too important for menial tasks."

Drake wanted to say 'I know' in response to all of this stuff, but that would have only made his actions more inexcusable in Glen's eyes. He was already in hot water and all because he wanted so desperately to prove himself worthy.

"Also, your status does not give you the right to disobey me," Glen replied as Drake's eyes widened with fear, the general adding, "I believe a punishment is in order."

"Please don't demote me!" Damien remarked before backing up and uttering, "Sorry."

It was not normal for Drake to be scared, but the very thought of losing his rank terrified him. He had risen up to this level not for himself but for his younger sister. He could not lose it.

"I was going to do that," Glen replied, "but I've changed my mind. After all, you did retrieve the diamond and I couldn't imagine it falling into Crystal City's hands. But even so, if I don't punish you, I'll be setting a bad example for the other soldiers. You just about corrupted Taylor with that act of yours."

"I did what?" Drake remarked, "but it was-"

"You are to scrub the hanger before bed tonight," Glen stated while ignoring Drake's words, "Every square inch of it."

The blue-haired man figured this was better than any other outcome and as such, he rose to his feet and bowed his head, saying, "Yes, sir."

Glen smiled and nodded his head, saying, "You're a great soldier, Drake. Two losses aren't gonna change that fact. But I know what you were thinking. When I was your age, I was desperate to prove myself to my superiors too."

Drake had to admit that he was rather surprised to hear this, but he simply said nothing as Glen dismissed him from his office. He the noticed Taylor waiting outside with a smirk.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked as Drake smirked and remarked, "He's making me clean up the hanger, but he didn't demote me. In other words, your plan failed."

"Yeah, but you almost made it work," the purple-haired woman retorted before sticking out her tongue. Drake simply rolled his eyes and walked to the hanger, his spirits having gone up a bit.


	9. Chapter 9

It was the start of a fresh new day in the New Domino base as a few new people had joined the army. However, among all of them, one particular private stood out from the rest. Her name was Angela and Glen saw real potential in her. She was of Asian decent and had long black hair.

Today was a rather lax day and as such, many of the soldiers watched the newcomers take on robotic soldiers, aka, practice droids. Most of them were fixated on Angela as while the others struggled to take down the machines, this woman, probably the youngest to have ever applied, defeated her opponent in less than three turns.

Amanda noticed the monster she had used to deliver the final blow was a Cosmo Queen as she groaned, "Oh, come on! That's so unfair! She completely ripped off my deck and yet she got better results than I did!" Aadil rolling his eyes and remarking, "She didn't rip off your deck."

"How can you say that!?" the glasses-wearing woman retorted, "Every card she used was one that I happen to own!"

"I saw a couple that were different," Drake remarked as Taylor snickered, saying, "Someone's jealous."

Amanda fumed and retorted, "I am NOT!" before storming out of the area, Glen shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Well, I've seen enough. Taylor, I want you to work with her on your next mission. Meet me in my office in ten minutes for briefing, and make sure you let Angela know."

Taylor gave an army salute and replied, "Yes, sir!" a big grin on her face as the man exited the room, the purple-haired woman sighing, "Dammit, I wanted to complete this mission on my own."

She always knew that she would get team missions, but she was still bad at working with others. Taylor was mostly looking out for herself. Her entire goal was to take over as the new top soldier and maybe even replace Glen someday. She felt that working with others would undermine her talents and make her look weaker thus making it more difficult for that to happen.

Even so, she had to obey orders as she waited for Angela to leave the training facility. Once the Asian woman exited, Taylor tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh, hello," Angela said in a rather soft tone as Taylor held her hand to her ear and asked, "What was that? You were talking so quietly, it's like you weren't talking at all."

"Oh, sorry," Angela uttered in a slightly louder tone, her lip quivering as the purple-haired woman thought, 'How the hell is she so good in combat? She's a nervous wreck.'

However, Taylor also saw this as a good chance to take advantage of her as she stated, "The general wants the two of us in his office soon. He's sending us on a mission, but since it's with me, it's gonna be super dangerous. I warn you, I only go on the most highly advanced assignments."

The purple-haired woman had a wicked grin on her face as she said this only for Angela to nod her head and say, "Okay," before going along with her. Taylor was not even sure what to make of her response. On one hand, Angela did not seem the least bit deterred but at the same time, that could have just been her way of covering up fear. For the time being, it was hard to tell.

Meanwhile, in Crystal City, Cindy and Scarlet were having a practice duel as Scarlet ended up winning. Cindy let out a sigh as the redhead blinked and said, "Wow, you came a lot closer than usual."

"Really?" Cindy squeaked as Scarlet nodded and replied, "Yeah, you actually dealt damage to me this time. I gotta say, ever since that mission with Damien, you've really been taking this seriously."

The pink-haired woman blushed lightly as Scarlet blinked and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cindy uttered as Scarlet's eyes widened, the redhead asking, "Wait, are you thinking about Damien right now?"

"Well, you mentioned his name, so of course I am," the pink-haired woman replied, Scarlet blinking and saying, "Oh, right, of course," though deep down, she knew her friend had another reason and had probably been thinking about him earlier.

However, that train of thought would have to wait as the speaker came on, Morgan's voice saying, "Scarlet and Cindy, I got a job for you. Come to my office for briefing."

The two nodded and assembled their decks together before placing them in their pockets. And with that, they headed to Morgan's office to see what she had in store for them. Cindy had to admit it was nice going on a mission with Scarlet again, especially now that she had the confidence to be a good ally.

And with that, Scarlet and Cindy were both assigned to the same area as Taylor and Angela. Both teams had been sent to retrieve a metal foot from an area known as the Gem Desert. As for where they would find it, Morgan and Glen had picked up signs of it inside one of the pyramids.

While Cindy and Scarlet were both more than happy to be doing this together, Taylor just wished Angela would get scared and leave it all up to her. In a sense, she wanted to do what Drake had tried to do the previous day.

Taylor had actually lied about being assigned high level missions in an attempt to make that happen. The truth was that since she was new, Glen felt it was too early to assign her to the most important of missions just yet. The purple-haired woman had hoped that completing this mission on her own might change his mind.

"I've heard there are dangerous monsters out here," Angela uttered, "Is that true?" Taylor smirking and replying, "Oh yeah, it's totally true. There are giant scorpions, sand worms, vultures the size of planes, you name it."

The Asian woman took a deep breath and tried her best not to let this get to her as Taylor had trouble believing someone like her would even sign up for the army willingly. She was more of a nervous wreck than Cindy.

Though what peeved Taylor a bit was the mech assigned to Angela. It was a rather impressive-looking model that resembled a boxer and had twenty-eight hundred vitality. Meanwhile, Taylor's mech was a slender, white one with small rocket thrusters on its thighs and what looked like a whip for a weapon. To add insult to injury, it only had twenty-six hundred vitality, only slightly above half of what Drake had. Taylor truly felt that she deserved better.

While the two carried on, Taylor heard a noise and smirked thinking, 'Oh, thank you,' and sure enough, a big sand worm came up from underground. With that, the woman let out a fake gasp and exclaimed, "Oh no, a sand worm and I have no time to react!"

However, she was shocked when Angela started speaking in a regular inside voice and said, "Don't worry, I'll protect us both."

With that, the Asian woman summoned two creatures in robes and white masks, each one holding a tuning fork. Both emitted sound waves that struck the worm and distracted it long enough for Angela to use her mech's boxing gloves to punch it ten times rapidly.

With that, the worm retreated into the ground as Angela resumed her usual composure and whimpered, "Did I do it?" Taylor blinking and thinking, 'What just happened?'

Either way, the woman shook her head and activated a metal detector that had been installed into her mech. She noticed no signal just yet but was determined to find the metal foot before anyone else.

During this time, Cindy and Scarlet were looking around as well, Scarlet asking, "Get any signals yet?" Cindy replying, "No."

Scarlet's mech had a rather nice design as it looked very human-like and red, the sides of its head looking like spiky hair. It seemed its weapon of choice was a chakram that it had latched to its side.

"You think maybe we should split up?" the redhead asked as the pink-haired woman squeaked in fear and whimpered, "No!" before uttering, "I-I mean-"

"It's fine," Scarlet replied, "Just because you've gained some courage doesn't mean you're ready for everything. Baby steps."

After a few seconds, Scarlet got a strong signal from her metal detector and had her mech point at a nearby pyramid, saying, "There we go," Cindy nodding and asking, "But how are we going to get it without destroying the pyramid?"

Both parked their mechs outside of the pyramid as Scarlet got out of hers, saying, "I know how much you hate the idea of going inside of these things, so you can keep watch," the pink-haired woman nodding and having her mech give her friend thumbs up.

Shortly after Scarlet entered, Cindy took a deep breath and thought, 'Okay, what would Damien say about this?'

She then imagined the man looking at her and giving her his first smile, saying, "You're strong, Cindy. You can take on anyone by yourself. Why, you're so good, I bet you could even defeat Drake."

Cindy's eyes widened as she uttered, "Damien wouldn't talk like that," the woman then imagining the black-haired man with his usual look, saying, "Look, don't be so hard on yourself all the time. Scarlet's counting on you to manage by yourself. Do you want to worry your best friend like that?"

Cindy nodded with a serious expression and said, "That sounds more like him," her cheeks turning pink as she squeaked in embarrassment. Though she should not have been embarrassed as no one else could see that.

After a while, Scarlet emerged and said, "Alright, I know where it is. Cindy, did you remember to bring the magnet?"

The pink-haired woman nodded and reached into a compartment on her mech, pulling out a magnet attached to a chain. With that, she moved it into the pyramid's entrance as Scarlet climbed back into her mech and gave her friend directions to follow. And soon enough, both heard a small 'clink' as they knew the magnet had gotten hold of the foot.

However, while Cindy started to pull the magnet back, Taylor and Angela arrived as Taylor gritted her teeth and cursed, "Dammit! They beat us to it!" Angela uttering, "Should we stop them?"

"Not yet," Taylor remarked, "Wait until that soldier in the pink mech pulls it out. Also, I'll be the one taking them both, thank you very much."

Angela was not sure how to respond to that last part, but Taylor saw her silence as agreement. She was going to get that promotion by the end of the week and would not let anyone stop her.

Once Cindy pulled out the foot Scarlet blinked and said, "Hold on, Cindy, I'm detecting something else nearby," the redhead turning and spotting both New Domino mechs flying right there.

"Uh oh," Scarlet uttered as Cindy put on a serious look and suggested, "Let's take them down together," Scarlet's eyes widening as she replied, "Wow, you're really taking this seriously. We might be able to win this together."

With that in mind, both flew toward Taylor as she smirked and said, "This is even more perfect. They're coming right for me."

With that, the purple-haired woman had her finger over the 'engage' button while saying, "Don't touch anything," only for Angela to panic and press hers at the same time as Taylor.

With that, a slot opened up on the side of each mech and unleashed a small orb, a big transparent sphere forming around all four mechs. When the mechs said 'Two-on-two battle initiated', Taylor's eye twitched as she turned to Angela with her teeth gritted.

"I told you to leave this to me," the purple-haired woman growled as Angela whimpered, "Sorry. I panicked."

And to make matters worse, the mechs had decided that Angela would be going first. Taylor had really counted on getting the first move, but she knew the only way out was to surrender and she would never do that.

Though she could help but feel screwed right now. Sure, Cindy only had twenty-three hundred vitality, but Scarlet's mech had thirty-one hundred. Most soldiers would have been lucky to have even that much.

With that, all five soldiers drew their cards as something strange came over Angela. Just like when the sand worm attacked, her shy and timid nature immediately left her as she appeared more focused. Though Taylor could not see this and as such, she assumed Angela would be afraid to make so much as one move.

With that, the Asian woman drew a sixth card without hesitation and looked over what she had. She saw two specific monsters that stood out, both with one thousand defence points. However, one of them seemed too good to use as a sacrifice and as such, she placed the other face-down in defence mode. She then proceeded to set a trap and end her turn, Taylor rather surprised by how quickly she had made her decision. Though on the upside, at least the purple-haired woman's turn would come sooner than expected.

But of course it was Scarlet's turn first as she drew her own sixth card, the redhead rather satisfied with her hand. Many of her monsters had high attack power, but the one that stuck out the most to her was a winged woman with hair very similar to hers, a beauty known as 'Cyber Harpie Lady'. And she had an attack power of eighteen hundred.

But just as she was about to play it, she remembered Angela's face-down card and took a deep breath, thinking, 'I gotta think logically,' and instead went with an orange bird named 'Whiptail Crow'. The crow let out a loud caw before flying toward Angela's face-down monster.

The Asian woman would have activated her trap, but she did not see this as a good opportunity. With that, the defending monster was revealed to be a tiny blue sphere cowering in terror as the crow struck it hard with his tail, the sphere's eyes swirling as its body decayed into nothing.

'Figures,' Taylor thought while rolling her eyes, Scarlet ending her turn with a face-down trap and giving Cindy a thumb up. Things seemed to be going well so far.

'Enjoy this while it lasts,' Taylor continued to think, 'Now that it's my turn, you're gonna be in a world of pain.'

With that in mind, the woman looked through her hand and noticed a trap she could make good use of and a monster with eighteen hundred attack points. Considering her other two monsters were high in level, this seemed like the best option as she placed her trap face-down and summoned her monster, a skeleton clad in armour named 'Zure, Knight of Dark World'.

Scarlet gritted her teeth as she knew her Cyber Harpie would have been a better choice for this. But it was too late for her to change her mind as Zure grinned wickedly and charged at Whiptail Crow, slicing the bird in half with his blade. Blood dripped all around the torso as it soon decayed like the sphere before it.

But it did not end there as Zure proceeded to ram his sword into Scarlet's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-nine hundred and fifty. The redhead winced as Cindy and her mech looked at hers with concern, Scarlet's mech giving them a reassuring thumbs up.

"Hey, Cindy," Scarlet asked with a smile, "think you can get us out of this?"

Cindy nodded with a big smile, feeling rather good to have honestly responded like that. In the past, whenever Scarlet asked her this, she would always respond with a weak 'okay' or something along the lines of 'I'll do my best to stay alive'. Now she felt that she really could help her teammate and it was all thanks to Damien.

With that, Cindy looked over her hand and really considered her options, and after careful consideration, three particular cards stood out. One was a helicopter with big cartoon eyes named 'Gyroid' and the other was a train with similar eyes known as 'Steamroid'. But the third card was 'Polymerization' and she knew she had a fusion of both these monsters in her deck.

With that, a big smile crossed Cindy's face as she was just about the play the monster. However, she then remembered that both Angela and Taylor had trap cards on the field. With that in mind, she chose to make a normal summon first as she sent in a boat with the same kind of eyes named 'Carrierroid'.

Seeing as the monster had one thousand attack points, Taylor simply stared and asked, "What the hell are you gonna do with that?" before turning to her side and remembering that Angela was unprotected. The purple-haired woman smirked and thought, 'Oh, never mind. She can take care of the pest for me.'

However, it seemed her assumption was way off when Cindy placed her Polymerization in the spell zone. Seeing this, Taylor knew that not even Zure would be able to stand up to whatever was in store. As such, she activated her face-down card, one with a picture of a shady businessman called 'Dark Bribe'. In exchanged for letting the opponent draw one card, this negated and destroyed any spell or trap card the opponent used.

Taylor laughed and exclaimed, "That was a nice try, but I'm afraid you're out of luck!" only for Cindy to smile with confidence and squeak, "You don't know about Carrierroid's effect, do you!?"

Scarlet's eyes widened as she said, "Wow, you sound like a badass talking like that," Taylor confused as Angela sighed, "At the cost of one of that soldier's cards, she can negate the effect of any card that destroys a spell card. You're lucky it wasn't a monster because it also destroys the card in question."

And with that, Cindy discarded a spell called 'Burning Land' as she knew she would not make use of that. And with that, her Gyroid and Steamroid took to the field as a swirling vortex formed and the two started to combine. Steamroid placed its chin against the ground and lifted its torso up in the air while Gyroid attached itself to it, its paint job becoming grey when it made contact. And with that, both monsters had become 'Steam Gyroid', a monster with twenty-two hundred attack points.

Taylor's eyes and mouth were wide open as she uttered, "How did you know about that?" Angela sighing, "It's common knowledge."

Be it common or not, Taylor was not used to having things turn out like this and as such, she braced herself as Steam Gyroid activated propellers attached to its midsection and flew toward Zure. But just as the knight defended himself, Angela summoned a pink salamander dressed in a fancy suit and wielding an umbrella named 'Gentlemander'.

The other three women stared in stunned silence as Cindy asked, "How did you do that?" Angela explaining, "It's quite simple. When an opponent declares an attack, I can special summon this monster. Once summoned, you can't attack any other monster."

With that, Steam Gyroid redirected its attack and got close to Gentlemander. And once close enough, he used his propeller blades to slice open the reptile's midsection, Gentlemander falling on his back while his body decayed. And with that, a powerful gust of wind emitted from Steam Gyroid and hit Angela's mech, bringing her vitality down to eighteen hundred.

Taylor gritted her teeth and had her mech glare at Angela's before grunting, "Don't help me!" the Asian woman letting out a sigh and saying nothing in response to this. Before she would have panicked in response to these words, but right now, she was too focused on the duel to care.

Though deep down, Taylor was a tad grateful for Angela's help. But she also wanted to win this on her own so badly that she refused to show any gratitude whatsoever.

Of course, Cindy's turn was not up as the pink-haired woman trembled and uttered, "Oh no, that knight is still alive," Scarlet sighing, "True, but you can still attack with your Carrierroid."

It was then Cindy remembered that Angela was unprotected, and since she had started the turn that way, the pink-haired woman could attack her with her mech. With that in mind, she wasted no time initiating an attack from her humanoid boat, Carrierroid moving toward Angela's mech.

But just as he was about to land a hit, Taylor summoned what looked like a wall ornament with a clock hand and a bell attached to it called 'Battle Fader'. Even Angela was a tad confused as Taylor smirked and explained, "Battle Fader can be called out when an opponent launches a direct attack. Once summoned, he automatically ends the battle phase."

Cindy bit her lower lip as Scarlet sighed, "Don't worry, you've done a good job so far," the pink-haired woman nodding and ending her turn.

Angela and her mech both stared silently at Taylor's as she sighed, "I didn't do that for you. I did it so I'd have an excuse to have two monsters on my side of the field. Now start your turn already."

"Whatever you say," Angela remarked with a shrug as she drew her next card. Sure, the turn had not gone flawlessly for Cindy, but she was glad to have actually dealt some damage. Now she could only hope that Scarlet would find a way to destroy Taylor's Zure, that was if Angela did not have something else up her sleeve.


	10. Chapter 10

So far the tag duel between Crystal City and New Domino's soldiers was anyone's game. While it had started off promising for Taylor and Angela, Cindy turned things around with an incredible first turn, something Scarlet would have never expected from her before.

Cindy ended her move by placing one trap face-down it was now Angela's turn. Now the Asian woman could fight back.

With that, the Asian woman drew her next card and grinned at the sight of it. However, she did not see a reason to use it just yet and as such, she looked over two particular monsters in her hand. One was 'Gogogo Golem', a monster with eighteen hundred attack points and fifteen hundred defence. The other monster was a level five one named 'ZW Eagle Claw' and had an attack power of two thousand. She could have easily summoned both monsters as Eagle Claw could be special summoned if the opponent had more than two thousand attack points.

She had a feeling with Cindy being so cooperative with Scarlet, the girl would likely do her best to protect her friend and as such, Angela figured it would be a better idea to go for her first. However, her Steam Gyroid would certainly be a problem. As such, Angela placed her golem in defence mode and special summoned her eagle claw, the mechanical two-headed red eagle with bright yellow and orange wings taking form.

Taylor stared silently and asked, "How long did you have that monster in your hand?" Angela replying, "I drew it on my first turn, but it would have been dangerous to expose a monster that powerful so early."

The purple-haired woman simply moved her mouth mockingly as Angela proceeded to have her eagle attack Carrierroid, Cindy whimpering as Scarlet sighed, "Don't worry, it's just one hit," the pink-haired woman nodding as the eagle rammed its beaks hard into the boat.

Carrierroid winced and exploded while ZW Eagle Claw rammed its beaks into Cindy's mech, its vitality going down to thirteen hundred. However, like Scarlet had suggested, the pink-haired woman would not let this get her down.

With Angela's turn having come to a close, Scarlet smirked and said, "Alright, you've pulled off some pretty good moves so far, but let's see how you handle this."

When she drew her next card, her confidence rose as what she had drawn was 'Malevolent Nuzzler', an equip spell that brought up a monster's attack points by seven hundred. She could not have asked for better.

With that in mind, she looked around and thought, 'I was going to attack that Zure, but that eagle is much more powerful. I should take care of it first.'

With that in mind, the woman finally decided to go with her Cyber Harpie Lady, her mech unleashing a burst of energy that formed into the winged woman. She then placed Malevolent Nuzzler in the spell zone as a young demonic woman appeared and caressed the harpy's body, raising her attack power to twenty-five hundred.

"Oh god no," Taylor groaned as Angela smirked and said, "Don't worry," before activating a spell card called 'Mystical Space Typhoon'. Since the card had a lightning bolt on the top right-hand corner of it, it was a quick-play spell card meaning it could be used at any given time.

And Angela's timing could not have been better as Malevolent nuzzler was destroyed, the demonic woman letting out a cry of agony and sinking into the ground. Taylor had to admit that was rather good thinking, but it hardly seemed to make a difference as Scarlet still had her Cyber Harpie attack ZW Eagle Claw.

"Wow, what a dumbass," Taylor uttered as Angela sighed, "I'm sure she has something planned."

And the Asian woman was right as Scarlet flipped over the trap card she had set the previous turn. It was called 'Strike Slash' and could only be used when the owner initiated an attack. The attacking monster in question would gain seven hundred attack points for the remainder of the turn, and this was more than enough for Cyber Harpie to defeat the eagle

Angela readied herself as Taylor let out a sigh, the harpy forming a whip made of lightning and cracking it hard against the mechanical eagle. Both its heads cried out in pain as electricity came from its body and it exploded. To end Scarlet's turn, one of the heads flew into Angela's mech and brought her vitality down to thirteen hundred.

Rather than feeling mortified for her ally, Taylor simply snickered and said, "So much for your plan," Angela simply remarking, "Well, better to dispose of an on-going equip spell instead of a one-turn trap, right?"

The purple-haired woman went silent as the Asian woman had a point, but she refused to acknowledge that fact as her turn had started. Taylor drew a card but did not care which card it was. In fact, Angela turning Scarlet's attention away from her was probably the best thing that could have happened as she had drawn one of her most powerful monsters on her first turn and had been waiting for a chance to use it.

With that, Taylor sacrificed both of her monsters, her mech using its whip to strangle both of them. The monsters soon passed out and decayed only to be replaced by a man clad in black armour with big blue angel wings and a sword. His name was 'Belial, Marquis of Darkness' and he had an attack power of twenty-eight hundred. And to make matters worse for Cindy and Scarlet, this monster's effect made it so no other monster could be targeted.

"Alright, time for my revenge!" Taylor exclaimed with a smirk as she laughed wickedly, Belial charging toward Steam Gyroid and slicing him in two. But while this happened, Cindy had revealed her trap, a card called 'Supercharge'. This allowed her to draw two cards when an opponent attacked and if her only monsters were 'roid' cards.

Even so, this did not stop Belial from ramming his sword into Cindy's mech and bringing her vitality down to seven hundred. Scarlet was now worried as Cindy took a deep breath and said, "I'm fine."

The redhead nodded and said, "Well, if you're sure," the pink-haired woman drawing her next card, and what a lucky hand it was. Not only had she drawn another Supercharge, but she had two 'roid' monsters in her hand. With that in mind, Cindy placed her trap face-down and summoned a monster in defence mode. And with that, her turn came to a close.

"Not so tough without your precious fusion, are you?" Taylor asked tauntingly as Angela sighed, "Don't get cocky," her turn starting up.

After drawing, Angela grinned and summoned an archer with a silver mask named 'Achacha Archer'. And she wasted no time making use of this as the archer prepared its bow and fired an arrow directly into Scarlet's mech, courtesy of its effect.

The redhead winced as her vitality reduced to twenty-four hundred and fifty, Taylor saying, "Not bad, but if it weren't for my Belial, that would be an incredibly rash move on your part."

"I know," Angela replied, "Thanks for the help," Taylor once again mocking her with obnoxious lip movements.

However, while this seemed like a good opportunity, the Asian Woman did not flip her 'Gogogo Golem' face-up and instead chose to attack Cindy's defending monster with her archer. And this proved to be a rather dumb move on her part as the monster in question was Ambulanceroid and had a defence power of twelve hundred.

"Just when you were starting to come up with good strategies, too," Taylor uttered as the arrow bounced off of the ambulance, Angela shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Oh well."

To top it all off, Cindy flipped over her second Supercharge and drew two more cards, her eyes sparkling at the sight of one particular monster. It was a train by the name of 'Expressroid' and when summoned, it would allow her to revive two of her 'roid' monsters. Now there was only one other card she needed and she hoped that she would draw it.

But it was still too early as Scarlet was starting to get nervous. Belial would not have scared her so much if she was able to target other monsters while it was out, and she was unsure of whether or not she would be able to draw something that could help her. But as she got ready, Cindy had her mech turn to hers and pat her on the shoulder, giving her a peace sign.

The redhead nodded and smiled lightly. She could not believe it. After all this time, it was Cindy giving her reassurance. Damien had truly performed a miracle.

Her next card was an equip spell called 'Rising Air Current' and while not the most powerful of its kind, it could still help her. The only downside was that she would need the second one tucked inside of her deck and what were the odds of her drawing that on the next turn?

Either way, Scarlet's top priority was to keep her vitality high right now as switched her Cyber Harpie to defence mode and summoned another monster in the same position. All the while, Taylor simply laughed and exclaimed, "Maybe your friend should have gotten your mech instead! You've barely done a thing throughout this entire duel!"

Cindy frowned as Scarlet sighed, thinking, 'It's okay, I just gotta hang in here for a little bit longer.'

This would be difficult as it was now Taylor's turn. The purple-haired woman grinned as while the monster she had drawn was nothing special, she had drawn something powerful the previous turn, and she intended to use it as she placed it into the monster zone. This was a purple demon with a war helmet and a cape named 'Archfiend Soldier' and it had an attack power of nineteen hundred.

Before Taylor could attack, Angela turned to her and said, "I'd suggest attacking that Ambulanceroid," Cindy trying to hide her fear of having that happen as Taylor remarked, "No way! That red mech rider has much more worthwhile targets and more vitality!"

Angela shrugged her shoulders as Archfiend Soldier headed toward the face-down monster. It was revealed to be a very weak robot called 'Thunderball', its six hundred defence points standing no chance against the demon's nineteen hundred attack points. As such, the demon whipped out a sword and sliced it in half, causing it to explode.

And with that, Taylor finished her turn by having Belial pierce Cyber Harpie's flesh with his sword. The harpy coughed up a great deal of blood and passed out, decaying into the ground.

Cindy could not help but feel tense now as Taylor sighed, "Oh, that felt so satisfying. Honestly, I've never liked harpies. So generic."

But while Cindy was starting to feel nervous, Scarlet turned to her and said, "Look, even if we fail, I just want you to know, you have impressed me so far. Do your best, okay?"

The pink-haired girl smiled lightly and squeaked, "Right!" before drawing her next card. Her eyes sparkled as she had drawn exactly what she needed, Power Bond. Sure, she knew it would bring her vitality down to zero by the end of the turn, but at the same time, it would be more than enough to at least deal with Taylor.

With that in mind, the woman summoned her Expressroid as the bullet train took form. Taylor blinked and asked, "Are you desperate or something?" Cindy stating, "Once again, you don't realize that my monster has a special effect."

With that, Cindy returned Gyroid and Steamroid to her hand as she sighed, "Now I have a total of five 'roid' cards in my hand and on the field, and I have the very card that can help me use this advantage to its fullest. Prepare yourself."

Scarlet stared wide-eyed and said, "Wow, that sounded really badass," Cindy blushing and asking, "Really?"

"Just use your 'super awesome move' already," Taylor sighed in a taunting voice only for her tune to change when Cindy placed Power Bond in her spell zone. With that, the three weakest roid monsters in Cindy's hand took form as a factory appeared and covered all five machines.

The sounds of blow torches, screws, drills and all sorts of other gadgets could be heard as the factory soon vanished to reveal a red robot with big shields for shoulders, two rocket launchers as arms and big motors for legs. This was 'Barbaroid, The Ultimate Battle Machine' and its attack and defence power were both four thousand. And since Cindy had used Power Bond to summon it, its attack had gone up to eight thousand.

"I never thought I'd get a chance to use this card," Cindy uttered with a serious look in her eyes, "I was always too afraid to use monsters like these, but I'm no longer afraid. At the end of my turn, my vitality will go down to zero, but that's okay because one of you will lose all of your vitality as well."

Taylor's eyes widened as she uttered, "No way." The purple-haired girl had been so confident in her ability and it seemed Angela was right to suggest targeting the pink-haired woman first. Who would have ever guessed such a wimp had something that powerful hiding in her deck?

"Time to end this!" Cindy squeaked as the robot pointed its rocket launchers at Belial. But as it opened fire and Taylor braced herself, Angela smirked and said, "I've been waiting for a moment like this."

With that, the Asian woman flipped her trap card over to reveal that it was 'Mirror Force'. Taylor could not believe her eyes as a clear barrier formed in front of both of the New Domino mechs. With that, the rockets combined together into a bright light that flew hard and fast into Barbaroid, the thin part of its body taking in the blast and blowing up as a result.

Once the robot had been cut in two, the rest of its body followed and exploded, Cindy's eyes widening as she squeaked, "NO!" Now she had nothing left. That was the only combination she had that could possibly defeat Belial.

Taylor breathed heavily before turning to Angela and gritting her teeth, barking, "Hey, what's the big idea scaring me like that!?"

"What do you mean?" the Asian woman retorted as the purple-haired woman retorted, "You had that on your side of the field since your first turn! Why did you wait until now to use it!?"

"I was actually hoping I wouldn't have to use it," Angela replied, "I wanted them to reveal their most powerful card before using its effects and strike it down right then and there. There was no doubt in my mind that Barbaroid fit that description."

"Oh my god," Taylor uttered before smirking and letting out a big laugh. She then wiped a tear from her eyes and said, "You're awful. Even I couldn't have pulled something like that off."

On the upside, Cindy's vitality did not go down to zero like it was supposed to. But on the other hand, she and Scarlet had nothing protecting them. And to top it all off, it was Taylor's turn.

The purple-haired woman's next card was nothing she could use and both monsters in her hand were too high in level to summon. As such, she simply went with what she had and aimed her Belial at Cindy's mech. The woman shut her eyes tight as the warrior used his sword to bring her vitality down to zero.

With that, the pink mech started to sputter as Cindy said, "Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful," Scarlet shaking her head and replying, "Are you kidding? You were better than me today."

With that, the pink-haired woman propelled herself out of her seat and took off on her jet pack. Sure, she was disappointed she had lost after all she had done, but like Scarlet said, she had actually contributed in the duel and done a decent amount of damage to Angela's mech. If anything, she had all the reason to be proud of herself for how far she had come.

However, this did not change the fact that Scarlet was still in danger. Her Archfiend Soldier charged at the red mech and struck it hard with its sword, bringing Scarlet's vitality down to five hundred and fifty. And to top it off, she proceeded to strike the mech with her whip though was disappointed when it only dealt two hundred damage.

"Oh, come on, that was supposed to finish her off!" Taylor groaned as Angela sighed, "She wouldn't have any vitality right now if you have attacked her with Belial."

Taylor was about to retort when she realized she had nothing and sighed, "Yeah, you're right."

Even so, this hardly seemed to make a difference as Scarlet had nothing in her hand that could help her. However, the woman was not going to let her friend's sacrifice be in vain and as such, she took a deep breath and drew her next card.

Her eyes widened as she drew a Pot of Greed. Sure, it was not exactly what she was looking for, but it did increase her chances. As such, the redhead wasted no time as she immediately activated it, drawing two more cards.

Scarlet could not have been happier with what she had drawn next. She had just gotten the perfect combination. The first card she drew was a monster named 'Slate Warrior' and he had an attack of nineteen hundred. But best of all, she also drew a second 'Rising Air Current', one of which increased the attack of all wind type monsters by five hundred. And since Slate Warrior was a wind type, this was perfect.

Scarlet took a deep breath and said, "You two have been a pain so far, but now it's payback time," the redhead summoning her Slate Warrior, an android forming. He had a human chest while the rest of him was made of metal. Taylor was about to taunt Scarlet but then remembered how she had eaten her words every time.

And just as she had suspected, Scarlet had a solution as she played both of her spell cards. A big gust of wind surrounded Slate Warrior as his attack rose to twenty-nine hundred.

Taylor's eyes were wide open as Slate Warrior charged toward Belial and sent a hard Karate chop into his side. This caused his armour to shatter as he fell on his side and coughed up blood, his body sinking into the ground.

With that, Slate Warrior sent one last chop to Taylor's mech as her vitality went down to twenty-five hundred. She could not believe it. Even after everything she and Angela had done, the purple-haired woman had finally taken in damage. Sure, it was the bare minimum, but it was still something.

Angela took a deep breath and said, "Calm down, Taylor. We can still win this," the purple-haired woman clearing his throat and asking, "Why would I need to calm down? I'm perfectly calm."

Angela rolled her eyes as Scarlet's turn ended, the redhead breathing a sigh of relief. It would take a lot to overpower her Slate Warrior right now. However, Angela had a big grin on her face after she saw what her next card was.

"We got this one," the Asian woman said as Taylor blinked, Angela sacrificing both of her monsters as Cosmo Queen took form.

Taylor's eyes widened as she uttered, "Right, that's the card you used to pass the acceptance test," Angela nodding and saying, "Alright, Cosmo Queen, it's time to end this."

"No," Scarlet uttered, her eyes wide open as the alien held her hands out and fired a burst of energy. Slate Warrior frowned and rushed toward the alien, ignoring the pain and sending a Karate chop into her neck. With that, both monsters ended up killing each-other as Slate Warrior exploded, Cosmo Queen falling on her side and sinking into the ground.

"Nice try, but you left yourself defenceless," Scarlet said with a smirk only for Angela to shrug her shoulders and remark, "Oh well. It's Taylor's turn next."

Scarlet's eyes widened as she uttered, "Oh, that's right, this is a two-on-two duel," Taylor smirking and drawing her last card, the woman saying, "It's been fun. Come and play with us again sometime."

With that, Taylor had her Archfiend Soldier attack Scarlet directly, the redhead wincing as her mech went down to zero vitality. And with that, she took a deep breath and propelled herself out of her seat, using her jet pack to make her escape.

Taylor then proceeded to pick up the metal foot they had been sent to retrieve as Angela reverted to normal. The woman blinked and squeaked, "Yay! We won!"

The purple-haired woman blinked but decided not to question this as she had a wide grin. With that, she had her mech give Angela's a hug as she exclaimed, "YOU ARE AWESOME! I WOULD HAVE LOST IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR YOU!"

Taylor may have had pride and selfish desires, but even she recognized skill when she saw it. And at the same time, she no longer minded working as a team even if it would likely result in her plan to replace Drake taking longer than she would have liked.

And so Scarlet returned to the Crystal City headquarters as Cindy had already given Morgan the bad news. Morgan was disappointed to have yet another strong part in the hands of the enemy, but when Scarlet mentioned that Cindy had almost brought them victory, the general was beyond impressed. Cindy, all the while, was being a tad modest about it, but at the same time, she hoped that if she kept this up she might end up winning a duel by herself for once.

Though needless to say, Angela and Taylor were praised beyond compare by Glen when they returned. Glen grinned upon seeing the foot and said, "Wow, I knew you had promise, and it's good to see I was right. Taylor, you are going places."

The purple-haired woman nodded and replied, "Well, to be perfectly honest, Angela did most of the work," the Asian woman blushing as she squeaked, "Was I really that good!?"

Taylor nodded and gave her thumbs up, saying, "You were even better than that," Glen nodding and asking, "Say, Taylor, you still don't have a roommate. Would you like to share with Angela?"

The Asian woman bit her lower lip and hoped Taylor would say yes, the purple-haired woman grinning wide and replying, "Yes, sir!"

And with that, a beautiful friendship had formed between the two. For years, Taylor had only looked out for herself, but now she found someone she could not only work with but even get along with. She had never intended on making friends and yet this was one of the happiest moments of her life.


	11. Chapter 11

It was the start of a new day as Damien walked down the halls by himself. He felt like going for a simple morning stroll around the building when suddenly, Cindy turned the corner he was headed toward. And before the man knew it, his head was wedged right up against her chest.

Cindy looked down at him with her cheeks bright pink, Damien quickly backing up and saying, "Sorry," rubbing the back of his head.

In the past, Cindy would have freaked out, but she knew Damien enough not to be alarmed by this. As such, she gave the man a sweet smile and said, "It's okay. Accidents happen."

However, something else was going through her mind right now and she could not quite figure out what it was. She wanted to tell Damien something that no one else could be around to hear and yet she had no idea what that something was.

Damien blinked and asked, "Is there something wrong?" Cindy uttering, "I was just thinking maybe we could walk to the cafeteria for breakfast," but deep down, she knew that was the wrong response.

"Sure," the man replied with a shrug as the two walked toward the cafeteria.

While walking, the two noticed Matt wandering the hallway as well. He turned and noticed them with a big smile and waved, saying, "Good morning, guys. What's up?"

Damien ignored the question and uttered, "You seem awfully cheerful this morning," Matt blinking and saying, "Well, that's how I always am."

It had not been that way since his loss to Drake, though. Though Matt had been reassured that he had nothing to be ashamed of, this still got to him so much. Again, the fact that he had lost was not the problem. It was the fact that he had gone down so easily.

Cindy bit her lower lip and wanted so much to reassure Matt, too. After all, she and Scarlet had both failed their mission yesterday and neither were letting it get them down. Unfortunately, Cindy still did not feel comfortable enough around Matt to have a real conversation with him.

Either way, Matt seemed okay now as Damien invited him to join them in the cafeteria. He still had trouble believing that he of all people was even doing that, especially since he had been so antisocial before joining the army.

Soon enough, the trio met up with Scarlet as the redhead said, "From what I can gather, not much is going on today. What do you guys wanna do?"

All went silent as Cindy suggested, "How about a dip in the pool?" Damien coming close to raising an eyebrow as he asked, "There's a pool here?"

Scarlet blinked and said, "Wow, there's a lot of things you haven't seen. Alright, I guess we're going for a dip today," Cindy squealing with excitement as Damien was rather surprised to see this reaction.

"What's with the look?" Scarlet asked as the man shrugged and replied, "I dunno, it's just, pools are usually public places, meaning there's a lot of people in them wearing swimsuits. I never pegged Cindy as the type who would be comfortable in such an environment."

Scarlet gave the man a cold look and said, "That's rude," only for Cindy to sigh, "No, he has every right to question this. I surprise myself, honestly. For some reason, being in a pool makes being surrounded by strangers tolerable."

The redhead nodded and stated, "That's still a rude thing to say. Keep that to yourself," Damien narrowing his eyelids and remarking, "Hey, it's a free country. I can say what I want."

Scarlet stared for a few seconds and sighed, "Did you drink after waking up against?" the man replying, "A small sip of bourbon, but that was about it."

The redhead stared awkwardly as Cindy patted her friend on the shoulder and smiled lightly, saying, "It's okay. Please don't argue."

Scarlet still could not believe how much Cindy had grown just a few days ago. And the pink-haired woman was right. After all, she owed Damien for doing what she had been trying to do for a long time. The man may not have always had his head on straight, but his heart often seemed to be in the right place.

And on that note, Cindy, Scarlet and Damien were ready to take off to the pool as they noticed Matt had not gotten up. In fact, he had not even contributed to the conversation. Now the three were worried. Had he truly gotten over his loss like he claimed?

Matt noticed them staring at him and said, "Hey, don't let me stop you. Go ahead. I don't really like swimming," Scarlet staring silently and sighing, "You usually go swimming the first chance you get. You really expect me to believe that?"

Damien took a deep breath and sighed, "If he doesn't wanna come, he doesn't wanna come. We shouldn't force him," Scarlet blinking and saying, "Wow, you actually have a point."

And with that, the trio headed off as Matt took a deep breath. He then noticed Morgan wandering the cafeteria, which was certainly a rare sight for her. Normally she ate in her office, so what was she doing here?

That would have to wait as the others were enjoying the pool. Cindy was wearing a cute pink bikini while Scarlet had a black one on. All the while, Damien had a pair of shorts on as he was not really into swimming. As such, he never thought of getting himself swim trunks.

Because of this, the man stayed in the shallow end of the pool with his back up against the side, his usual bored look on. Only unlike normal when this was just a natural impulse, he really was bored out of his tree. The only reason he had agreed to this was because he now had friends and wanted to do things with them.

Cindy noticed him and asked, "Aren't you going to swim with us?" Scarlet smiling lightly and adding, "Yeah, come on. It'll be good for you."

"I don't really feel like swimming," Damien replied with a light sweat drop forming on his cheek, Scarlet blinking and asking, "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"Uh..." Damien uttered, his eyes shifting back and forth as the redhead asked, "You do know how to swim, right?"

The man let out a sigh and replied, "No, I don't know how to swim," Cindy chuckling lightly as she actually found this kind of cute. Not so much the fact that Damien was unable to swim but that he was actually showing signs of embarrassment, something that would normally not show on his face.

Scarlet smirked and said, "Well, then, let me help you out," and swam over to Damien before taking his hand. Damien struggled to free himself from her grip but soon found himself dragged into the deep end.

"Look, move your legs back and forth and you'll be able to stay afloat," Scarlet stated as Damien found even this took difficult, and for the first time in years, his eyes actually went wide. And with that, the man found himself clinging to the redhead as Cindy giggled even more.

"Look, I'm sure if you try, you'll get it," Scarlet uttered, feeling rather nervous with Damien holding her so close like that. However, her nervousness turned to frustration when one of the man's hands grabbed hold of her butt cheek, Damien subconsciously squeezing it.

His eyes then lowered back to normal as Scarlet fumed and growled, "Hands off..." before reeling her fist back and sending it hard into his face. Damien coughed up a bit of blood as he ended up flying all the way back to the shallow end, his back ramming hard against the edge.

Scarlet blinked and sighed, "Oh no, did I do it again?" Cindy laughing nervously and swimming over to Damien with concern. Once close to him, the pink-haired woman smiled lightly and asked, "Are you okay?"

Scarlet rose an eyebrow at the sight of this when Matt suddenly entered fully clothed and exclaimed, "Hey, Damien! Morgan has a mission for us!"

Damien blinked and said, "Alright, I'll get changed," the man actually glad to have an excuse to leave the pool.

As the man stepped out of the pool, Cindy let out a disappointed sigh. Now Scarlet could see what was going on, and it was plain as day. Her friend had feelings for Damien. The redhead did need a few seconds to really approve of this, but ultimately, she knew Damien was good guy. He just seemed to need guidance a lot of the time.

Either way, Damien and Matt were both off as Morgan wanted the two to retrieve another spare part from the Emerald Mountains, a metal chest to be exact. Supposedly, any mech equipped with this would gain an additional five hundred vitality.

While Damien was on high alert, he turned to Matt and asked, "So, when should I start getting a signal on the metal detector?" Matt replying in a monotone voice, "When we get close to the part."

"God, I wish we were looking for core again," the black-haired man remarked with a sigh, "At least then we could use a tracker and find it from anywhere."

Suddenly, Damien noticed a giant mountain goat as Matt uttered, "Don't worry. Mountain goats are herbivores. They don't care about us," his ally nodding and asking, "Dude, what's up with you? You sound like you've been drinking more than I do on a Friday night."

"Nothing's wrong with me," Matt replied, now juggling between enthusiastic and monotone, "I AM perfectly FINE thank YOU."

Damien stared silently for a few seconds and had his mech shrug its shoulders. And with that, the two carried on. However, things were not going to be so easy as two other soldiers were in search of the chest as well.

One was a young man with short grey hair riding a mech that resembled a silver knight with a lance. The other was a woman with long white hair riding in a mech that resembled a white angel with a crossbow for its weapon. Their names respectively were Winston and Celeste.

"This is boring," Celeste groaned, "I joined the army to blow shit up, not look around for metal," Winston letting out a sigh and remarking, "War is not fun and games. It's serious."

"Then why do we play a card game to beat our opponents?" the woman remarked with a smirk, "Heck, the fact that I'm being paid for something Mom always called a waste of time is pretty friggen sweet. Too bad we haven't run into anyone."

"It's best we avoid duels," Winston sighed, "It helps guarantee our success," both metal detectors going off as Celeste stated, "And we already found it. That was so challenging."

Unlike the last thing the soldiers had to find here, this part was supposedly lying around somewhere on the ground, and sure enough it was. But there was one major problem. A flock of giant ravens were fighting over it as it was rather shiny in the sunlight.

"Well, they're not soldiers, but they're targets," Celeste said with a smirk as Winston nodded, each one summoning a different monster.

Winston summoned a paladin with shiny white armour named 'Jain, Lightsworn Paladin' while Celeste had brought out a sorceress with a white rob named 'Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress'. Since both had metal on them that shone quite brightly, the ravens turned their attention away from the armour and flew toward the two monsters. Some of them were also focused on the mechs as they were made from the same material as the metal chest.

However, both the paladin and sorceress made very quick work of their opponents. Jain slashed quite a few in half with his sword while Lyla used a golden staff with a green gem on its tip to send a magic blast through a line of them. All the while, Winston had his mech strike down two of the remaining ravens with its lance while Celeste shot an arrow through four.

With that, the ravens were all lying on the ground, each one dead as a doornail. Celeste grinned happily and squealed, "I killed more than you did!" Winston rolling his eyes and sighing, "So you did."

With that, both flew down and picked up the chest when Damien and Matt had just gotten close enough to detect it. Matt simply blinked and said, "Oh, hey, it's nearby," Damien nodding and replying, "Yeah, I picked up on that too."

With that, the two flew toward the area when they noticed the other two soldiers holding it. Matt froze for a few seconds at the sight of this. Sure, neither of these soldiers looked were highly ranked like Drake or Aadil, but Matt was still getting cold feet. Had his loss really hurt his pride that much?

Damien, on the other hand, was more than ready as Winston sighed, "Oh no, guess we're your wish has come true," Celeste grinning wickedly and squealing, "Yes! This is gonna be awesome!"

But just as Damien was about to press the 'engage' button, Matt uttered, "Hey, maybe you should take on the guy with the chest and I'll take on that other soldier," Damien groaning, "Are we seriously having this conversation right now!? This is kind of a bad time!"

Unfortunately, neither Celeste or Winston were going to wait for the two to come to a decision and pressed the red button instead. Each mech had a slot open up on the side two orbs flew out. Both stopped between the teams and formed a big transparent sphere around them, the mechs saying, "Two-on-two battle initiated."

Celeste and Winston seemed to have decent vitality in their mechs. The woman had twenty-eight hundred vitality while the man had thirty-two hundred. Needless to say, this could very well have been a challenge.

Matt tried his best to remain calm and uttered, "Hey, Damien, do you think your deck is good enough for this?" the black-haired man shrugging and replying, "Well, I do have some very powerful cards, but I'm hoping you can be of help," his eye twitching.

"Me too," Matt gulped as Winston went first, the man drawing a sixth card and saying, "Good, I can make this a quick one."

With that, Winston activated a spell called 'Solar Recharge'. Celeste blinked and said, "You know this is kind of a risky move."

"I know," the man replied as he discarded a monster into his graveyard. Since this was a monster with 'Lightsworn' in its name, specifically 'Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter', he could use the spell's effect which allowed him to draw two cards in exchanged for the next two on the top of his deck.

However, he cared not for the cards he drew or the first card he discarded. What matters to him was one specific card, the second one he had sent to the graveyard, a lycan by the name of 'Wulf, Lightsworn Beast'. If this monster was sent from the deck to the graveyard, it could be special summoned.

And with that, the monster was brought out as Damien stared silently, Matt now more terrified than before as his ally said, "You seemed awfully confident you'd draw that despite the fact that our mechs automatically shuffle our decks before a duel. Did you tamper with the system?"

"No," Winston replied with a sigh, "Let's just say I have a way of knowing these things," Celeste nodding and adding, "Yeah, he has a sticker on the side of each card to let him know which one is which."

Winston let out a sigh and groaned, "You weren't supposed to tell him that," Damien staring blankly and uttering, "You mean that's actually true? Good god, man, that's kind of unfair. How do the cards even work with stickers attached to them?"

"He uses ones so tiny that the mech can't pick up on them," Celeste replied, "I still think it was a colossal waste of time to pick out a different sticker for each individual card, though."

Winston tried to remain calm as a vein formed on the side of his head, Celeste sighing, "Alright, I'd better shut up. He's really sensitive about this."

"Thank you," Winston said before placing a trap card face-down and summoning a monster in defence mode thus ending his turn.

"I'll admit, it's gonna be hard getting around that," Damien uttered while Matt was frightened out of his mind. He was simply praying that his ally would have a way to take this monster down, though it was not looking hopeful.

Damien knew better than to act rashly at this point and as such, he carefully considered what cards he had in his hand. After a while, he got an idea and placed one card face-down in the spell zone and summoned an orange-skinned warrior with flaming hair and two swords. His name was 'Master of the Flaming Dragonswords' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred.

All went silent as Matt asked, "What are you gonna do with that monster?" Celeste snickering as Winston asked, "Yes, that's a good question. What can you possibly do with a monster that's weaker than mine?"

"I'm going to attack your partner," Damien remarked before pointing at Celeste and adding, "Duh."

The other three soldiers stared silently as Celeste uttered, "He's not serious about that, is he?" only for Damien to attempt it only for his mech to say, "Target has not had first turn yet. You may not attack said target."

The silence continued until Damien said, "Oh, that actually makes perfect sense," Winston blinking and saying, "He was actually serious about that," Celeste breaking out into hysterics while shouting, "OH MY GOD! WHAT A NOOB!"

Damien took a deep breath and ended his battle phase before saying, "I guess I'll have to do something to make up for this," the man activating a spell called 'Thunder Short', his mech holding out its machine gun hand and firing bolts of lightning into Winston's mech.

Thunder Short dealt four hundred points of damage for every monster the opponent controlled, and since Winston had two, his vitality went down to twenty-four hundred. While that was certainly a good way to make up for his blunder, it did not change the fact that Damien would take in damage if his monster was destroyed.

With Damien's turn over, Celeste squealed with excitement as Winston sighed, "Take it away," the white-haired woman drawing another card and exclaiming, "You're gonna suffer so badly!"

Before the woman could play her next card, though, she turned to Winston's mech and asked, "Say, what monsters do you have left in your graveyard?" Winston replying, "I have Ryko and Garoth, why?"

"You'll see soon enough," Celeste replied as Winston got where she was going and nodded.

With that, Celeste summoned a young woman with short hair and a white dancer outfit named 'Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner'. Damien blinked and asked, "How's this supposed to take down my monster?"

"Just watch," Celeste replied as she sent a card in her hand to the graveyard. With that, the summoner performed a ritualistic dance, swaying her hips left and right as a beam of light came down from the heavens. Once it hit the ground next to her, another monster appeared, a warrior with spiky blue hair to be exact.

This was 'Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred and fifty, just high enough to destroy Damien's monster. Now the man was worried as Celeste equipped him with spell called 'Ribbon of Rebirth', a blue ribbon forming and binding itself to its wrist, the rest of it attached to Celeste's mech.

"Wait, back up," Damien uttered, "I'm not following any of this," Celeste replying, "It's simple. Lumina's ability is that at the cost of one card from my hand, I can special summon any level four or lower monster from the graveyard, so I borrowed Garoth from Winston's graveyard. Meanwhile, Ribbon of Rebirth allows Garoth to come back to life at the end of any turn in which he's destroyed, though since he's Winston's monster, he'll likely reappear on his side."

"The effects make sense, but god, team duels are confusing," Damien groaned as Matt uttered, "Well, the beauty of two-on-two duels is that the soldiers can help each-other out under the right circumstances. Like if someone were to attack an unprotected soldier, his partner could send a monster in attack mode to block the incoming strike."

Damien was grateful for the explanation, but Matt still sounded depressed when saying it. Whatever the case, Celeste was still going as she had Garoth aim an attack at Master of the Flaming Dragonswords. The warrior attempted to strike back with his swords only for Garoth to block the blades with an axe that he wielded and shattered them to pieces.

Master gritted his teeth as Garoth sent his sword down the warrior's midsection and sliced him in two, his body decaying as the blue-haired warrior struck Damien's mech. This brought his vitality down to thirty-nine hundred and fifty while Celeste had Lumina send a spinning kick into the mech, lowering its vitality even further and bringing it down to twenty-nine hundred.

"Your mech's got a lot of life," Celeste said with a grin, "but it's not good enough," Damien letting out a sigh.

Celeste's turn was over and it was time for Matt to go. The one downside to the summoner was that the white-haired woman had to discard her top three cards in her deck to the graveyard every turn the woman spent on the field. As such, Celeste's deck decreased in width.

When Matt drew, Winston smirked and revealed his trap card saying, "Nice try, but I'm not gonna let you do anything."

The card was revealed to be 'Tour of Doom', a very risky card. Like with Sasuke Samurai Number Four's effect, it required a coin flip, thus Winston's mech pulled out a big coin and did just that.

It landed on tails as Winston's eye twitched, Celeste sighing, "Nice going, genius," Damien asking, "Explanation, please?"

"Oh my god, you are new at this, aren't you?" Celeste asked, "Anyway, Winston just did something really stupid. If that coin had landed on heads, you partner wouldn't be able to normal summon a monster this turn. But since it landed on tails, it had the exact opposite effect."

"Wait, if you had that this whole time, why didn't you use it on me?" Damien asked as all went silent, Winston sighing, "Oh god, he's right."

"And here I thought you guys were intelligent fighters," Damien said as Celeste fumed, Winston trying to control himself. However, Matt did not seem focused on any of this. Sure, he could still summon monsters, but his hand was not particularly impressive.

None of his monsters could overpower either Garoth or Wulf. But at the very least, he could try and take out Lumina. It would, at the very least, reduce Celeste's number. And currently, it was the only thing he could do.

With that in mind, the man took a deep breath and summoned Kojikocy, the warrior taking form and letting out a fierce battle cry. Then with that, Matt had him attack Lumina as the summoner cried out in pain, blood flying from her chest. The woman fell hard on her back and sunk into the ground as Kojikocy proceeded to strike Celeste's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-three hundred.

Matt took a deep breath as Damien said, "Hey, good job. You dealt damage," the orange-haired soldier replying, "Yeah, but I didn't take care of the monsters who matter."

With that, Matt's turn came to an end as Winston nodded and said, "A smart observation. He at least knows how much danger he's in, let alone how much danger you're in right now."

The man drew his next card and added, "I may not be able to summon a monster this turn, but my Wulf, face down monster and mech are more than enough to destroy your mech."

Matt wished he could have been more of a help right now. It seemed like Winston's words may have been true. After all, Wulf had twenty-one hundred attack points and lord knew how much power his face-down monster and mech had. Either way, it looked like Damien's mother's mech was going to be totalled and on the second turn no less.


	12. Chapter 12

It seemed over for at least Damien as Winston smirked and said, "You really shouldn't be so surprised. Someone who has little knowledge or how Yu-Gi-Oh works should still be in training."

"Just shut up and finish me already if you're so confident," Damien retorted, Matt's eyes widening. He remembered how big a deal the man had made about losing Emma's mech. There was no way he would be okay with defeat. If anything, he would have forfeited instead.

Winston simply saw this as a tough guy routine and rolled his eyes saying, "Alright, may as well end this," the man flipping over his face-down card to reveal a small mage with three hundred attack points named 'Miracle Flipper'.

"Geez, no wonder you had that in defence mode. Now I'm embarrassed to think that's gonna contribute to my defeat," Damien uttered as Winston had a vein on the side of his head, Celeste snickering. She had to admit, the monster was incredibly weak.

Even so, Winston was not going to let this get him down as he had Wulf aim for Damien. Matt gritted his teeth and figured he might as well sacrifice Kojikocy to save his friend, but just as he was about to do so, Damien flipped over his face-down card to reveal a trap called 'Spellbinding Circle'.

Winston's eyes went wide as the circle bound Wulf in place, preventing it from attacking or changing its position. To make matters worse for Winston, it also lowered the monster's attack by seven hundred, bringing it down to fourteen hundred.

Matt blinked, rather shocked as Celeste said, "Geez, after all your talk about using traps too late, it seems you're guilty of that too."

"Oh no, I had this planned from the start," Damien replied as the other three soldiers stared with confusion, the man adding, "See, Wulf is clearly the strongest monster on the field right now. As such, he was clearly the biggest threat. I would have used this to stop Celeste's attack but only if her monster was stronger."

"So your plan was to wait until I attacked with Wulf so you could disable him," Winston replied as Damien nodded and replied, "My friend Scarlet told me that in order to use a card's effect to its full potential, you have to know the right moment to time it. If I had used it on Garoth, it would have been a waste of potential."

Neither Winston nor Celeste could believe what they had just heard. The strategy was certainly legit, but how could someone with minimal knowledge of Yu-Gi-Oh come up with something so brilliant? Up to that point, Damien had come across as an idiot devoid of any common sense.

With that in mind, the man took a deep breath and placed one card face-down in the spell zone and said, "Well played, private. Well played."

With that, Damien drew 'Pot of Greed' and played that without a second thought, the man drawing two more cards. He seemed rather satisfied with his hand as one of the two cards was 'Monster Reborn'. And naturally, Damien wasted no time playing that and bringing back his Master of the Flaming Dragonswords.

Winston's eyes widened as he thought, 'Okay, maybe I'll get lucky and his next monster will have less than fourteen hundred attack points.'

Unfortunately, he was way off as Damien summoned a motorcyclist with a dragon helmet. His name was 'Stygian Street Patrol' and he had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

"Now I can make use of my master's special effect," Damien said as Dragonswords pointed his blades at Stygian and unleashed a small flame around his body. This brought his level up to five while also raising Master of Flaming Dragonswords' attack to twenty-one hundred.

"Wait, what?" Winston asked, Celeste equally confused as Damien sighed, "As much as I'd love to take out both your wolf and that baby mage of yours, I think it would be a much better idea to deal with your girlfriend's soldier that she stole from you."

Matt's eyes widened as he thought, 'Wow, he really thought this through. He doesn't even need me.'

With that, Stygian Street Patrol raced toward Wulf only for Miracle Flipper to step in the way and take in the attack, Stygian running him over as his blood and body were both splattered across the area surrounding him. Damien was rather confused by this as the biker proceeded to ram into Winston's mech and lower his vitality down to seventeen hundred. Normally he would have dealt nineteen hundred, but Stygian's special effect added one hundred damage multiplied by the level of the monster he destroyed.

"What just happened?" Damien asked as Celeste replied, "When Miracle Flipper is face-up, you can't attack any other monster," Winston gulping as Damien said, "You know that was incredibly stupid, right?"

Matt was resisting the urge to laugh right now as Winston had another vein on the side of his head. As if messing up with his trap was not bad enough, now he was being called out for putting his vitality in even more danger. And to make matters worse, Damien was right. If he had kept Miracle Flipper face-down, he would have only taken in four hundred damage.

And on that note, Damien took full advantage of this by saying, "Well then, all that's left is to have my Master of Flaming Dragonswords destroy Garoth."

"Wait, you're not gonna destroy Wulf?" Celeste asked as Damien remarked, "Why? It's not like he's going to move and besides, Dragonswords' power boost goes at the end of my turn."

Once again, both New Domino soldiers were shocked. Again, how had this complete newbie come up with such a genius strategy? Whatever the case, it was not looking good for them as Dragonswords charged at Garoth with his swords crossed and threw them both sideways in an X-formation, the soldier's body coming open as he fell on his back and decayed into nothing. With that, Dragonswords sent a hard strike into Celeste's mech as her vitality went down to nineteen hundred and fifty.

While Celeste and Winston were both irritated now, Matt could not help but feel ashamed of himself. Damien had managed to pull all of this off so easily and yet all the orange-haired soldier had done was deal five hundred damage while putting himself at risk doing so.

However, things took an unexpected turn when Miracle Flipper suddenly appeared on Damien's side of the field. The black-haired man blinked and asked, "What is this?"

"Oh yeah," Winston replied with a grin, "When Miracle Flipper is destroyed, he's then revived on your side of the field. Oh, and if one of us destroys him, you take in the battle damage. And it seems you also forgot one little detail."

Now Damien was alarmed when a certain blue ribbon was reeled into the arm of Celeste's mech, a bright light shining. The mech then pointed its arm at Winston's side and unleashed a burst of energy, Garoth taking form there as opposed to her side.

Celeste smirked and said, "I told you that would happen, right?" Winston nodding and saying, "That's right, now my monster's back where he belongs."

And of course, Master of Flaming Dragonswords lost his attack boost, just as Damien predicted he would. Even so, this hardly seemed to matter as it was Celeste's turn and she had nothing to work with at the moment.

However, Celeste may not have had very strong monsters, but what she did notice was three trap cards in her hand that could help her. With that, the woman smirked and placed all of them face-down. She then proceeded to the summon the young woman she had used against the ravens earlier, Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.

Celeste smirked and said, "I may not be able to destroy that master of yours, but at the very least, I can still deal a good amount of damage to you," Damien bracing himself as Lyla aimed her staff Miracle Flipper and sent a blast of magic through his heart, knocking him out as he decayed.

What remained of the magic then struck Damien's mech as his vitality went down to fifteen hundred and fifty. Now Matt was worried as Celeste took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I'm satisfied," her turn coming to a close.

While Damien knew his Kojikocy could at least deal with Winston's Wulf, the orange-haired soldier was still afraid he would not be of much help. Besides, who knew what those face-down cards had in store? For all he knew, this could very end in disaster. Damien had done so much and yet Matt had done so little.

Damien turned to Matt and sighed, "Look, Matt, I haven't seen you in action yet, but let me tell you something, you're not going to do much with that attitude of yours. So you lost easily one time. I did too. I almost quit because of that loss, but I didn't. And honestly, I'm glad I stuck around because I realized that I had potential that I never knew about all this time. I'm sure if you think hard enough, you can come up with an incredible strategy that will turn everything back in our favour."

Matt's eyes widened as he slowly drew his next card. After doing so, his eyes widened as he saw four cards that would help him truly turn the tides. With that, the man smirked and said, "That's right. I'm a warrior just like my grandpa and a true warrior fights to the bitter end!"

With that, Matt summoned a female ninja with long green hair named 'Lady Ninja Yae', the woman whipping out a pair of daggers and striking a fighting pose. This was rather confusing to the others as she only had an attack power of eleven hundred.

However, before Celeste could even question this, Matt demonstrated the very reason he had summoned her by discarding a martial artist with red spiky hair named 'Combo Fighter'. Once he did so, Yae proceeded to spin around while releasing a big gust of wind, blowing all four trap cards off of the field and back into their mechs.

"Wait, what?" Celeste uttered as Matt grinned and explained, "That's Yae's special effect. If I discard one Wind type monster to the graveyard, all spell and trap cards are sent back to their owners' hands."

Now Celeste was scared as Matt added, "And that's not all," the man placing his own 'Monster Reborn' card into the spell zone. With that, he special summoned Combo Fighter to his side of the field and grinned.

"Big deal," Celeste scoffed, "Even your strongest monsters can't take ours!" Matt nodding and replying, "Yeah, I know," before activating the spell 'Rush Recklessly', raising Combo Fighter's attack power to twenty-three hundred.

"That chest is ours!" Matt exclaimed as Damien had his mech give him thumbs up, Combo fighter racing toward Garoth and sending his fist hard into the warrior's face. This ended up knocking him on his back as he decayed into nothing, Combo Fighter then delivering a hard punch to Winston's mech and bringing his vitality down to twelve hundred and fifty.

His eyes went wide as Matt then had Kojikocy destroy his Wulf, the warrior slicing the canine down the middle before striking Winston's mech. With that, the silver mech's vitality went down to eleven hundred and fifty.

Matt had a wide grin on his face as he shouted, "AW YEAH! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" his turn coming to a close as Rush Recklessly was sent to the graveyard, Combo Fighter's attack returning to normal.

Celeste was going to remind Matt about how her Lyla could easily destroy his combo fighter now, but she then remembered Damien's Master of Flaming Dragonswords. Come his turn, he could easily take care of her.

Now the woman was beyond terrified as she turned to Winston and asked, "You have some way to counter this, right? You can deal with this, can't you?"

"Quiet," the man remarked with a sigh, "Whatever I draw next might be able to turn things around."

The man then drew his next card, knowing exactly what it was. And of all the luck, he had drawn his own 'Monster Reborn'. And to make things better, he also had a level five monster in his hand.

With that in mind, the man proceeded to place the trap he had set earlier face-down and activate his spell as Garoth was brought back from the dead. Damien blinked and asked, "Why not bring back the wolf instead?"

"Because right now, attack power doesn't matter," Winston replied with a sigh, "I just needed a sacrifice for my next monster."

With that, the silver mech rammed its lance into Garoth and struck him down as a smoke cloud formed around his body. Once the smoke cleared up, the warrior had been replaced by an angel with blue hair clad in armour. This was 'Celestia, Lightsworn Angel' and she had an attack power of twenty-three hundred.

Matt's eyes widened as he uttered, "Oh no, we were so close," Damien bracing himself as Winston grinned and said, "You two have put up a very good fight, but your good fortune has run out."

"Oh, use her special ability!" Celeste exclaimed as Winston sighed, "I would if I had four cards in my hand."

This was definitely a good point. Celeste's ability was very useful as it allowed her to destroy two cards of any kind. The only downside was that the user would have to discard four cards to do it and right now, Winston only had three.

Even so, it still looked bad for Damien when Celestia pointed her magic staff at Master of Flaming Dragonswords and sent a burst of white magical energy into his body, turning it into bone. With that, the magic passed by his remains and struck Damien's mech hard, bringing his vitality down to one thousand and fifty.

"Dammit," Damien groaned as Matt asked, "You okay, buddy?" the orange-haired man really concerned now. He knew that if Damien's mech was destroyed, it could not be rebuilt. And seeing as it was a gift from his late mother, it was even more important that it be kept alive.

Damien took a deep breath when Winston's turn ended and drew a card. He stared silently for a few seconds and said, "Don't worry about me, Matt. I'll be just fine."

"You're bluffing, right?" Winston asked, "You can't possibly have anything that can help you."

However, it seemed Damien had just the solution as the card he had drawn was 'Polymerization'. And to make things better, he had two elemental heroes in his hand, a water type named 'Ocean' and a wind type known as 'Stratos'. He then remembered two fusion monsters in his deck. One of them required an elemental hero and a water type while the other required a hero and a wind type. However, one of those two was superior to the other and Damien intended on using it.

With that, the man activated his spell card as both of his heroes appeared on the field, Winston's eyes widening as he uttered, "He has fusion monsters?" Celeste saying, "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a fusion before."

With that, a swirling vortex appeared behind both heroes as both monsters merged together. Soon a new hero took form. This man sported a black mantle and wore sky-blue armour with yellow stripes on it. With white forearms and what looked like turbines attached to its shoulders, this monster was 'Elemental Hero Great Tornado' and he had an attack power of twenty-eight hundred.

Winston's eyes widened as he breathed heavily, uttering, "No way," Damien taking a deep breath and saying, "Well, you just about had us."

However, it did not end there as a big wind came from Great Tornado and hit Celestia and Lumina. Both of them had their attack points cut in half, Lumina's going down to eight hundred and fifty while Celestia's was reduced to eleven hundred and fifty.

"Oh yeah, it's worth mention that all of my fusion monsters have some great special abilities," Damien stated, "This one in particular cuts the attack and defence of all of my opponents' monsters in half on the turn he's summoned."

Winston dropped the cards in his hand on the dashboard as Great Tornado clapped his hands together and sent a big twister toward Celestia. The angel let out a loud cry as the tornado swept her up and sent her flying into the wall of the sphere, Celestia coughing up blood and falling flat on her face. With that, the twister proceeded to head toward Winston who let out a sigh and said, "Promise me you'll win this for us."

With that, the twister hit his mech hard and reduced its vitality down to zero, the mech sputtering as Winston returned his cards to his pocket and escaped on his jet pack. And with that, the mech exploded as he flew away from the area, Celeste having her mech wave as she called out, "Don't worry! I'll think of something!"

However the woman could not help but feel nervous as she breathed heavily, Damien's turn still going. With that, he had his Stygian ride toward Lumina and run her over, hitting Celeste's mech hard. However, just as it looked like Celeste was surely done for, the woman suddenly discarded a monster card with a picture of a fur ball with eyes from her deck.

"How long has she had that in her hand?" Matt asked as the monster in question appeared and shielded Celeste's mech from the attack. This was a monster known as Kuriboh, and if discarded during damage calculation, all damage would go down to zero.

"Why'd you wait so long to play that?" Damien asked as Celeste took a deep breath and replied, "Like your Spellbinding Circle, I was waiting for an emergency, and that was as urgent as it could possibly get. And it's too bad, because you were really close!"

Damien let out a sigh and said, "Oh well, I doubt she has much left anyway," the man ending his turn as Matt bit his lower lip, thinking, 'I hope so.'

But while Celeste did seem confident after using her Kuriboh, she actually could not have been more nervous. She had nothing that could help her in her hand. Sure, she had all those trap cards earlier, but without a Lightsworn monster, these cards were worth nothing.

But when she drew her next card, her eyes widened as she could not believe her eyes. This was just what she needed and she would waste no time playing it as soon as possible.

With that in mind, Celeste smirked and exclaimed, "Alright, you're gonna pay for what you did to my friend!" the woman placing a monster card in play as a big grey dragon covered in feathers appeared. This monster was known as 'Judgement Dragon' and had an attack power of three thousand.

"What the hell!?" Damien spat, "That monster's level eight! How did you summon it so easily!?" Celeste smirking and replying, "Well, it's because both Winston and I have had four Lightsworn monsters sent to our graveyards. As such, I can special summon this bad boy!"

The dragon did have the ability to destroy all cards on the field, but that would cost Celeste one thousand vitality. Sure, she had more than that, but she had no desire to risk losing it. Besides, it was not like Damien or Matt could possibly defeat this monster, right?

With that in mind, Celeste had her dragon send a burst of energy from its mouth toward Great Tornado, the hero taking in the blast hard and closing his eyes. He ended up flying into the barrier behind Damien as his body decayed, Damien taking in what remained on the blast and having his vitality brought down to eight hundred and fifty.

Celeste beamed and said, "I may not be able to use my trap cards, but it hardly matters. This is just too good!"

Matt let out a sigh and said, "Well, we put up a good fight," Damien remarking, "Hey, it's not over yet. You still haven't been touched. I'm the only one who's been taking in damage so far. You can still win this."

The orange-haired man blinked and said, "You're right," before drawing his next card. Whatever he had drawn next must have been something really amazing because once he gazed upon it, his eyes went wide with shock. He simply could not believe his luck.

With that, Matt grinned and said, "I have bad news for you. You've been targeting the wrong soldier this whole time!" Celeste's eyes widening as she spat, "No, what could you possibly have that can beat my Judgement Dragon!?"

Matt simply grinned and said, "Let's just say it's won my grandpa many battles before," the man sacrificing Combo Fighter and Kojikocy. With that, a knight covered in black armour and weilding an enormous sword took form.

Damien whistled as he had to admit he was impressed, Celeste's jaw dropped. The monster standing before her was 'Buster Blader', a warrior with twenty-six hundred attack points.

However, her fear turned to smug confidence again as she laughed and asked, "So what? That monster may be strong, but it's not strong enough!" Damien remarking, "He's plenty strong against dragons!"

With that, Buster Blader's attack increased by five hundred points as he lunged at Judgement Dragon, Celeste crying out in terror as the knight sliced the dragon in half, a shock wave coming from the end of his blade and striking her mech hard. With that, her vitality went down to eleven hundred and fifty while Judgement Dragon sunk into the ground.

Yae then rushed toward Celeste's mech and struck it hard with its daggers as its vitality was now fifty. And with that, Matt's turn came to a close as he had his mech give Damien thumbs up while saying, "Well, buddy? Care to do the honours?"

"Honestly, I've been waiting for a moment like this," Damien replied as he drew his next card. He did not care what the card was as he had something else in mind.

As such, he had his mech aim its machine gun arm at Celeste as she trembled and uttered, "You know, I'm okay with you taking the chest from us. Just don't hurt me and I'll surrender peacefully."

"Yeah right," Damien remarked as he sent a barrage of bullets into the woman's mech. Celeste quickly made a getaway with her jet pack as her mech exploded, Damien taking a deep breath.

And with that, the two soldiers returned to Crystal City with the metal chest in hand. Morgan was beyond pleased to finally get one of these parts as she had big plans for this one. And needless to say, Matt had finally gotten over his depression and his confidence had returned.

With all said and done, the orange-haired man was off to take a well deserved break. But as he walked off, Damien tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a thumb up. Of course, he still could not bring himself to smile, but Matt definitely appreciated the gesture.

Later that evening, after dinner to be exact, Matt decided to head to the pool. And although they had gone earlier, Cindy and Scarlet were more than up to joining him. And unlike before when Damien was just going for the sake of doing something, he actually felt up to it now.

While Matt and Cindy were off swimming, Damien was once again in the shallow against with his back up against the wall when Scarlet approached him and sighed, "Look, you don't have to come into the pool if you don't want to. If you have no interest in swimming-"

"Actually," Damien replied, "Could you teach me the basics?" the redhead's eyes going wide briefly until she gave him a light smile and replied, "Sure, though let's go a little slower this time. I think I might have expected a little too much from you the first time."

Meanwhile, Damien had climbed next to the pool before performing a cannonball, the water splashing Cindy. The pink-haired woman giggled in response to this and squeaked, "You really are all better now!"

"And you're talking to me without getting nervous," Matt replied as Cindy nodded and sighed, "I guess it's because I used to feel like you did when you were going through that phase."

Matt nodded and said, "You know, for someone who can't smile, Damien's a miracle worker. He helped me get my fighting spirit back," Cindy blushing bright and sighing, "Yeah, he really is amazing, isn't he?"

And with all said and done, the day had certainly been successful.


	13. Chapter 13

It was a rather busy day in Crystal City as soldiers were getting assignments left and right. Some were so big that three soldiers had to be sent at once for safety reasons. However, one particular individuel who looked beyond excited was Steven.

He was marching down the halls to find Morgan when he bumped into Damien who was on his way to a mission with Scarlet and Cindy. He was not actually going with them, though. In fact, Damien's partners were two soldiers he had never met before.

The green-haired man grinned upon seeing the three and said, "Sorry, didn't see you there."

"No problem," Scarlet replied with a shrug, "Everyone's running around today. We've never had so much work to do before," Damien sighing, "Yeah, at least all we're doing is collecting oil again."

"Actually, that's what just about everyone's doing today," Scarlet replied, "It seems someone quite a few containers full of the stuff last night," Cindy finding this rather worrisome.

"Well, I guess that might be my mission too," Steven replied with a sigh, "Though I'm hoping for something better."

With that, the man carried on as Damien asked, "Any of you know what that was about?"

"Well, see, of all the soldiers here, Steven is by far the weakest," Scarlet replied as Matt sighed, "Yeah, I hate to say it, but he has a really poor track record. So far, he has only defeated two opponents since he joined the army."

"I dunno, two doesn't seem that bad," Damien replied as Scarlet replied, "For a low-ranked duelist, it is here, but what's more is that Steven is only chosen for really simple assignments, you know, those last-minute jobs that the general secretly doesn't care that much about."

"Wow, she thinks that little of him!?" Damien remarked, his eyes almost going wide when Cindy whimpered, "I feel sorry for him. He's been trying to get an important mission for a long time but Morgan never gives it to him. He always accepts with a smile, but deep down, I can tell that he hates her for giving him missions like that."

"Yeah, I've seen him come close to snapping before," Matt stated, "I wonder if he'll ever actually do it someday," Damien groaning, "Has he at least gone on team assignments before?"

The others blinked as Scarlet replied, "He went on a few once before. His teammates couldn't stand him, though, so Morgan refused to let him work with others again. I sometimes wonder why she keeps him around."

During this time, Steven had managed to find Morgan as he waved and exclaimed, "Good morning, ma'am!" running over with a grin and asking, "So, what's my assignment for the day?"

Morgan blinked and tapped her chin. As a matter of fact, Steven's mission had completely slipped her mind. She had been giving so many assignments that she had completely forgotten about him.

"Oh, I know," she said with a grin, "I want you to gather some fuel in the Jade Coalmine."

Steven blinked and asked, "The Jade Coalmine again? You know, it's funny, not a lot of enemy soldiers go there."

"Yeah, nice and easy, right?" Morgan replied with a grin as something in Steven's brain snapped. He had a grin of his own plastered onto his face while the side of his mouth twitched.

"Um, are you okay?" Morgan asked as Steven gave her a long silent stare, the general shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Okay, well, you got your assignment, so-"

"No!" Steven grunted just as the general was about to leave, Morgan turning to him and asking, "What did you just say."

Her eyes widened as Steven had a look of irritation in his eyes, the man growling, "I am getting sick and tired of this! I try my best hoping that someday I'll get an important mission and yet you always give me the easiest tasks! It's like you don't think I'm worth having in the army!"

Morgan took a deep breath and replied, "Look, I'm not your mother or your aunt or your uncle or whatever family member you can think of, so I'm just going to tell you how it is. The reason I don't give you important missions is because you suck."

Steven's eyes went wide as she added, "That's right, I've given you important tasks before and you always fail to do them. You are the worst soldier I have ever had. The only reason I don't get rid of you is because you're the only one who will actually accept menial tasks like going to the Jade Coalmine, and if you don't like it, you can just leave."

With that, Morgan turned and headed off to find other soldiers she had not talked to yet while Steve stood there silently. He then bit his lower lip and sniffed, but he did not shed any tears. After all, he knew it would make him look weak.

And the worst part of all was that deep down, he knew this. He knew that he had a terrible track record. Even when facing the weakest of opponents, he would lose constantly. But at the same time, he could not leave. Like Damien, this was the only job he could do. Piloting a mech was the only thing he was remotely competent at.

No, he had to prove her wrong. In his eyes, he had a great, stellar deck full of amazing cards and knew just how to use them. This could be his big chance to prove himself. All he needed to do was find a newcomer, someone who did not yet understand the rules. Yes, it was dishonest, but right now, Steven was desperate.

After a bit of wandering, he noticed one newcomer, a young woman named Cici being assigned a mission to find a core hidden in the rainforest. Sure, this was not as highly advanced as it sounded as the rainforest was one of the less dangerous locations soldiers were sent to, but it would still be difficult. And of course Cici would be going with another soldier whom she was to pass the message on to.

Once Morgan headed to her office, feeling satisfied, Steven approached the young woman and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and said, "Oh, hi, Steven. What's up?"

"Hey, I couldn't help but overhear that you're going to the rainforest," the green-haired man replied with a grin as Cici nodded and replied, "Yes, though I'm a little nervous."

"Well, how about I ease your conscience?" Steven replied, "See, my mission is to find oil in the Jade Coalmine. Now, that's a very safe location. The odds of a soldier from New Domino going there are slim to none. Now wouldn't you much rather do that?"

Cici nodded and replied, "Yes, but I'm a soldier now, so I'll do my duty," Steven asking, "Well, how would you like to trade jobs with me?"

The woman blinked and asked, "Can I do that?" the green-haired man nodding and replying, "Oh yes, you can totally do that. Not a lot of people do, though, because they're afraid of being judged, but on the other hand, you haven't even been here for a week. The way I see it, I think Morgan's rushing you into bigger tasks."

"But Damien goes on higher ranking assignments and he's new," Cici replied as Steven replied, "That's because he's a special case. Hell, they gave him a highly advanced mech on his first day. No one ever gets that kind of treatment here."

Cici nodded as the green-haired man added, "Let me ask you. Do you feel ready for this kind of mission just yet?"

The woman let out a sigh and replied, "Honestly, I don't. In fact, just thinking about it is giving me chills," Steven nodding and saying, "I know that feeling, but trust me, if you take my job, you'll have it much easier."

Cici nodded with a big smile and replied, "Thanks! I'll go tell Gregory right now!" the woman running off as Steven sighed, "Nice lady. Kind of makes me feel bad, but it had to be done."

And with that, the man headed to the hanger and hopped into a mech rather similar to the one Damien had piloted when he faced Drake. The only major difference was that it has two shoulder cannons as weapons and had a vitality of fifteen hundred. As it so happened, most soldiers who had not proven themselves worthy were stuck with weak mechs as Morgan saw no reason to waste the good ones on underachievers.

And during this time, a soldier from New Domino was preparing to head off to that very location, a young woman with ocean-blue hair named Katherine. Her mech was aquamarine and had a trident as its weapon, something she herself had chosen.

However, things were about to get complicated. Shortly after Steven took off, Morgan noticed Cici and her partner, a man named Thomas, just about to head off themselves. The woman grinned and walked over to them.

"Hey, best of luck on your mission today," the general said, "I know this is kind of tough for an early mission, but I'm sure you can handle it," Cici replying, "Oh, we're not going on that mission anymore. We're getting oil from the Jade Coalmine."

Morgan blinked and frowned, asking, "Are you disobeying orders?" Thomas shaking his head and replying, "Oh no, Cici traded jobs with that Steven guy. He said people could do that here."

Morgan narrowed her eyelids and remarked, "He did, did he?" before sighing, "You two come with me to my office. We have something to discuss before you head out."

All the while, Steven was looking around while thinking, 'Dammit, I should have installed a tracking device at the very least. I have no idea where a core would be hiding.'

He then noticed another mech flying through the area while thinking, 'That person might know,' a grin forming on his face as his mind added, 'Yes, it's perfect. I'll let that New Domino soldier lead me right to it and then I'll initiate a duel. It's perfect!'

While this was going on, Morgan had led Thomas and Cici to her office as the two sat in front of her desk. The woman rubbed her temple and said, "Alright, I was once like this, very naive and unaware of how things work. So let me tell you all how it goes. I am the general. That means I'm your boss."

Thomas and Cici nodded as the woman added, "That means what I say goes. Now is Steven a general?"

"No," Cici replied as Morgan grinned and replied, "That's right, so he's not your boss. Do you know what that means?"

The two stared silently for a few seconds until Thomas asked, "We shouldn't be taking orders from him?" Morgan nodding her head and replying, "That's right. When someone else tells you that you can get away with something, even if that person has lots of experience, take it up with me first. If what he's told you is correct, I'll confirm it."

"Oh, I see," Thomas replied, "So was Steven right when he said we could trade jobs?" Morgan remarking, "No, he wasn't. He was way off the mark, but since he's already gone out there, I guess you two can take his job. Just don't do that again."

The two gave an army salute before taking their leave, Morgan sighing, "Why, Steven? As bad of a soldier as you are, I don't wanna have to punish you."

After a bit of searching, Katherine detected the core under a patch of dirt. With that, she had her mech unsheathe its trident and start digging for it. A part of her wished she did not have to use her weapon like this, but it was all she had for this purpose.

But just as she was about to reach the core, Steven slowly made his way behind her before pressing the big red button labelled 'engage'. With that, the sides of his mech opened up and released two orbs that stopped between the mechs. They then proceeded to form a transparent sphere around the two.

Katherine blinked and slowly turned, sighing, "I should have known something like this would happen," Steven exclaiming, "Yeah, you should have been more careful! Now your entire mission's gonna fall apart thanks to me!"

However, when the blue-haired woman saw the man's vitality, she snickered and remarked, "Oh yeah, I'm so afraid of a soldier with fifteen hundred vitality," Steven narrowing his eyelids. And it did seem like Katherine was at least more of a threat, what with her having thirty-two hundred vitality.

Even so, Steven had to keep a level head as he remarked, "All the vitality in the world won't help you if you lack the skills to back it up," the two drawing five cards as Katherine replied, "Yeah, but unfortunately for you, I happen to have such skills."

'We'll see about that,' Steven thought when drawing his next card. He had drawn a level five monster, something he knew he could not make use of. But this was hardly an issue.

Luckily, the man had a monster with two thousand defence points. Needless to say, this would certainly help him as he summoned it in defence mode and placed two traps face-down. And with that, the man ended his turn feeling confident as could be.

Katherine, however, looked beyond pleased as she looked at her hand. To start things off, she activated a spell called 'Pot of Duality'. With this spell, she was able to look at the top three cards in her deck, add one to her hand and shuffle the rest of her deck.

Once the woman did just that, she proceeded to summon a flying shark known as 'Fly Fang'. This monster had an attack power of sixteen hundred and was able to deal piercing damage, meaning if it struck a defending monster, it would still harm the opponent's vitality.

However, Steven was more than confident as his monster had a very high defence power. But unfortunately, Katherine had prepared for this as she activated an equip spell called 'Aqua Jet'. With that, a big boat motor with wings latched itself to the shark's back and rose its attack power up to twenty-six hundred, the sea creature letting out a threatening roar.

Steven's eyes widened as he uttered, "What?" the shark flying at his defending monster as it was soon revealed to be a green rat tucked inside a big blue shell named 'Prevent Rat'.

And while its defence was high, the rodent stood no chance as the shark bit into the shell and shattered it into tiny pieces. The rat's eyes widened as it started to squeak in panic, Fly Fang biting its head off and crunching it into tiny pieces while the rodent sunk into the ground.

With that, the shark proceeded to spit Prevent Rat's skull into Steven's mech as his vitality went down to nine hundred, Katherine laughing and exclaiming, "That was awesome!"

"Don't count me out just yet!" the green-haired man retorted as he flipped over one of his traps, revealing it to be 'Attack and Receive'. This sent the shark flying backward and its back rammed into Katherine's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-five hundred.

"That was a decent comeback, but not good enough," the woman said tauntingly, "Look at you. You're almost done for and it's only been one turn."

Steven gritted his teeth and thought, 'No, don't let her words get you down. You can do this.'

With that, the man took a deep breath and drew his next card. His eyes widened at what he saw next. All of his monsters were levels five and six, meaning he could not summon any of them. And to make matters worse, the one spell card in his hand was completely useless.

He then suddenly remembered his face-down card and thought, 'Right, that can be of help,' the man flipping it over. The card had a picture of a dark warrior with a snake growing out of its back and was called 'Embodiment of Apophis'.

"What is that?" Katherine asked as Steven smirked and explained, "This is called a Trap Monster. It can only be played during a main phase, but when used, it becomes a monster card."

The blue-haired woman nodded and said, "I'd actually be somewhat impressed if its attack power wasn't so low," and she certainly had a good point as Apophis only had sixteen hundred attack points. If Fly Fang were to attack that, Steven would be done for.

However, it seemed the man had another plan as he grinned and stated, "That wasn't my soul reason for activating him," as he proceeded to sacrifice his trap in exchange for one of his higher level monsters. However, he summoned the monster in defence mode and thus Katherine could not help but feel a tad suspicious.

"I'm guessing whatever you summoned just now must have one hell of a defence power," the woman said, "No matter. I have more than enough vitality to take my chances, but just to make sure..."

With that, Katherine summoned a blue barnacle with purple drills coming out of its flesh, the monster aptly named 'Drill Barnacle'. Steven was rather confused as the monster only had three hundred attack points, but Katherine's reason for summoning it became clear when it launched its drills past his monster and into his mech, reducing his vitality to six hundred.

And to make matters worse, the barnacle proceeded to grow in size after doing that as Katherine explained, "Not only can Drill Barnacle attack you directly, but every time it does so, it gains one thousand attack points. In other words, even if you were to destroy it, it wouldn't be enough to bring my vitality down to zero."

With that, Steven took a deep breath and braced himself, hoping he would not regret this move while Fly Fang flew toward his defending monster. Once said monster revealed itself, Katherine was rather shocked to see that it was a blue demon with a red armour-like shell and big bat wings named 'Archfiend of Gilfer'.

Its attack power was only twenty-two hundred and its defence was twenty-five hundred. As such, Fly Fang easily destroyed him by ripping open his belly and exposing his organs, the shark flinging one of said organs into Steven's mech. This brought his vitality down to five hundred while Katherine laughed.

"Now I get it!" she exclaimed, "You only summoned that monster because you knew its defence was high enough to prevent me from finishing you off! You should have just accepted defeat!"

"Actually, there's more to it than that," Steven remarked with a serious look, "for when Archfiend of Gilfer is sent to the graveyard, I can equip it to any monster on the field and lower its attack power by five hundred and I choose your precious Fly Fang!"

Katherine's eyes and mouth were wide open as the demon rose up from the dead and latched himself onto the shark's back, sinking his teeth and claws into it and bringing its attack down to twenty-one hundred. Needless to say, the woman had not expected this, but unbeknownst to her, Steven really had no way to make this truly work in his favour. All he had really done was slightly reduce his chances of being taken down in the next turn.

Even so, he refused to let Katherine know this as she sighed, "You know, my turn still isn't over yet. I didn't think I'd actually need this, but who knows what you're planning to use next turn?"

With that, the woman activated a spell card called 'Turtle Oath' as a big shell bound by ropes and chains appeared in her spell zone. Steven's eyes widened as he actually knew what this meant, Katherine smirking and saying, "Try to beat this bad boy."

Both of the woman's monsters were pulled into the shell along with a level two monster from her hand. And with that, the shell came open to reveal a crab with one eye, human-like legs and a green shell on its back. This was known as 'Crab Turtle' and had an attack power of twenty-five hundred and fifty.

"Well, fortunately for you, you get one turn to come up with a countermeasure," Katherine said with a grin as her turn came to a close. And it was just as she said. The only upside to all of this was that her attack phase had ended before she summoned her Crab Turtle.

But what could Steven possibly do? Both remaining monsters in his hand were level five, so he could not use them even if he could find a way to do so. And again, his spell card was useless.

With that, the man gulped and thought, 'Morgan was right. I'm not cut out for this. If my next card is as useless as I think it's gonna be, I'll forfeit the duel, pack my bags and leave the army forever.'

With that, the man drew his next card as his eyes and mouth went wide. The card he had drawn was 'Winged Kuriboh', which was basically the same monster Celeste had used to defend herself only with wings attached. But while the card itself was not that strong and only served to delay the inevitable with its effect, the spell he had been holding since his first turn could actually help now that he had drawn it.

"Hey, what's taking so long?" Katherine asked, "Are you out of options? There's no shame in giving up," Steven taking a deep breath and remarking, "Hold on, I'm thinking."

The spell in question was called 'Transcendent Wings'. If activated when a Winged Kuriboh was in play, he could use it to summon a monster called 'Winged Kuriboh Level Ten', the most powerful Kuriboh card ever made.

The green-haired man remembered how before joining the army, his sister gave him all of her Winged Kuriboh cards and Transcendent Wings. Steven was not sure exactly how they would be of help until she told him that these were the very cards that had won her every single duel she had been in. She just knew that Steven could use them.

'That's right, these monsters are more powerful than people give them credit for,' Steven thought, 'But I can't use them properly. That monster really is useful, but every time, every single time I've summoned it, it's resulted in me losing. I'm sorry, sis, but I have no idea how to use it.'

However, his eyes went wide again when he remembered the reason why it had always failed him, and it was always one of two reasons. Either he would use it too early or the opponent would have a trap card at the ready to stop it from fulfilling its purpose.

'That's it,' Steven thought with a sigh, 'I can still turn this around. I just gotta think logically. Would this be a good time to dish out Winged Kuriboh Level Ten?'

"I'm getting bored," Katherine sighed, "Just deal with the fact that you have nothing to help you. If you choose to run, I won't judge."

'She has twenty-five hundred vitality left,' Steven thought, 'That Crab Turtle has twenty-five hundred and fifty attack points. And to top it off, she has no trap cards or monster effects that can possibly help her,' the man grinning and saying, "I'm not running because I've won this duel!"

"What?" Katherine asked as the man proceeded to summon his winged Kuriboh, the fur ball taking form and flapping in place.

"Okay, I know that monster can reduce battle damage to zero, but that's not good enough," the woman remarked as Steven asked, "Did you think that was all I had?"

With that, the man activated his Transcendent Wings as the blue-haired woman stared, Kuriboh's wings growing in size as a golden dragon flew out of the card and latched itself onto his back, its claws hugging the creature's stomach. Spikes appeared on Kuriboh's wingtips as two spear-like tails grew out of his backside, feathers also hanging down from that area.

Katherine's eyes were wide with shock as Steven smirked and said, "It's over," the fur ball releasing a bright light from his body and blowing himself up. The result was a huge explosion that disintegrated Crab Turtle and struck Katherine's mech hard, bringing her vitality down to zero.

The blue-haired woman's eyes were wide with shock as her mech started to sputter. And with that, Katherine made her escape on a jet pack and flew off with fury in her expression. She could not believe it. How had Steven pulled that off?

And of course the man himself could not believe it either. His eyes and mouth were wide open as he breathed heavily and had his mech finish what Katherine had started. Looking at the core brought tears to his eyes as he held his Winged Kuriboh Level Ten card above his head and exclaimed, "I DID IT, SIS! I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO USE THIS CARD!"

Though as happy as he was to have finally defeated a high ranking opponent, Morgan was not all too happy when he returned. Like Glen, the woman did not tolerate insubordination and as such, Steven had been assigned to not clean the hanger but rather the entire base. In other words, his punishment was significantly worse than Drake's.

And with that, the man was handed a mop and pale as he groaned, "But why!? I got the core! I beat a high ranking soldier!" Morgan sighing, "Yes, and you broke the rules. I can't have you setting a bad example for our new recruits. Now I want this building spotless by nightfall, got it?"

Steven took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, ma'am," but just as he was about to start, Morgan added, "Oh, one more thing."

The man turned, expecting another task added to his punishment only for the general to smile and say, "Good job. Keep this up and I might give you a promotion."

With that, the woman headed to her office as Steven grinned. Now that he knew what he had been doing wrong all this time, he figured that maybe he could defeat more soldiers and maybe even start working well with others. Sure, he hated having to clean the building, but in the end, it had been worth it.


	14. Chapter 14

Today seemed typical at the New Domino base. Drake and Aadil were having a practice duel as it seemed neither would get an assignment today. And Drake was rather glad that Taylor had been leaving him alone as of late.

As it so happened, ever since she and Angela beat Cindy and Scarlet in a team duel, the purple-haired woman had been spending ample time with her Asian friend. The two had even gone on a couple of successful missions since then. Angela was unsure of why Taylor admired her so much, but she was happy to have such a strong and cool friend.

"So, we got us a day off," Taylor said with a grin, "I was gonna suggest we take a dip in the pool, but you know what? I've never had a friend to object to my ideas before, so I wanna hear your suggestion."

"Actually, the pool sounds great," Angela uttered in her shy tone, the one she used outside of duels, "And afterwards, maybe we could try a little origami."

Taylor blinked and said, "You know, I've always wanted to know how to fold paper into a dragon," her eyes going wide as she squealed, "Maybe we can make origami sculptures of all of our monsters! That would be amazing!"

Drake and Aadil had just finished their practice duel and happened to pass by when they both heard this. The blue-haired man's eyes widened when he saw just how nice and even girly Taylor was acting.

Aadil blinked and asked, "Dude, what are you looking at?" before turning toward the scene himself and nodding his head, saying, "Oh, I see."

Taylor turned and narrowed her eyelids asking, "What do you want?" Drake shrugging and replying, "Nothing," he and Aadil carrying on as Angela asked, "Um, do you not like that guy?"

Taylor shrugged and replied, "Yeah, but it's nothing for you to worry about," Angela uttering, "But if he upsets you so much, I can't help but worry."

"Look, it's fine," the purple-haired woman stated, "Let's just have fun on our day off, okay? We can think about taking Drake's title away from him later."

Angela blinked and figured just from those very words that she knew what Taylor's deal with Drake was. Even so, if her new friend did not wish to talk about it, she would not prod her for further information. After all, like Taylor, she was not the kind to normally make friends and as such, she did not wish to compromise this.

However, while Drake and Aadil carried on their way, the speaker came on as Glen's voice came out, saying, "I would like to see Drake in my office," the man's eyes going wide as Aadil said, "Wow, he might actually have a job for you."

"Boy, wouldn't that be something?" Drake asked with a shrug, but as he was just about to head out of the general area, he ended up bumping into Katherine, the blue-haired woman still looking a bit down.

Drake blinked and said, "Sorry about that," the woman looking up, her eyes widening as her cheeks flushed bright pink, the woman replying, "Oh, it's no problem. Accidents happen."

With that, she carried on her way and sighed, "I'm such a loser. Not only do I lose to a weakling but I can't even say 'hi' to him without tensing up."

The woman took a deep breath when suddenly, a young woman with short white hair approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder, saying, "Hey, Katherine, what's up?"

The blue-haired woman's eyes went wide as she said, "Oh, morning Katie," her friend looking at her and asking, "Is something wrong? You don't look particularly cheerful this morning."

Katherine let out a sigh and replied, "It's my loss yesterday. It's still bugging me," a scowl forming on her face, "Just one more blow to his vitality and he would have been finished! It pisses me off so much!"

"Okay, okay, forget I asked," Katie replied with her eyes wide open, Katherine sighing, "I'm sorry. I'll be honest, there's more to it than that."

Now Katie was interested as the blue-haired woman sighed, "The truth is, I like someone," Katie's eyes widening as she gasped, "Oh my god! Who is it?"

"It's Drake," Katherine replied as Katie stared blankly, her friend adding, "Every time I see him, I get butterflies in my stomach. He just so handsome and smart and powerful and mysterious," the woman letting out a heavenly sigh, "But I'm just not worthy of him. I keep trying to be as strong as he is so I can meet his level, but I lost to an amateur. How much lower can I possibly get?"

Katie took a deep breath and replied, "First of all, most guys tend not to care about that sort of thing. Secondly, Drake lost to an amateur last week. Don't you remember that?"

"Oh right," Katherine replied, "I had forgotten about that. Maybe I do stand a chance," her eyes sparkling as Katie shrugged and stated, "Well, if you want to stand a chance, you should tell him how you feel. Holding these sorts of things in can make things really awkward and difficult."

Katherine nodded with a serious look and replied, "You're right. Once Drake returns, I'll tell him how I feel about him!" a look of concern on her face as she asked, "But what if he rejects me?"

"Better to be rejected than spend your life wondering what could have been," Katie replied as Katherine blinked and asked, "Okay, why don't you have a boyfriend? You are clearly an expert on this sort of thing."

Katie blinked and replied, "I do have a boyfriend. He lives downtown, remember?" Katherine nodding and sighing, "Oh god, I'm forgetting a lot of things today."

During this time, Cindy had been called to Morgan's office as she asked, "What is it?" the general explaining, "Due to your recent improvements, I've decided you might just be ready to try a solo mission again. But before I go into the details, do you feel up to it? I can send Scarlet instead."

Cindy shook her head and replied, "Oh no, I feel like I can handle it," a big smile on her face. Ever since Damien had given her a boost in confidence, Cindy felt like she could take on just about any mission now.

"Good," Morgan replied, "In that case, I'd like you to look around Diamond Valley. When gathering parts of the destroyed mechs from our base, one of our night workers claimed to have seen a bit of core there. I want you to check out the area and see if his claim is true."

Cindy nodded and replied, "Okay, I can handle that," a big smile on her face.

With that, the pink-haired woman exited the office and headed down the hall when she noticed Damien headed in her direction. She smiled wide and waved to him as the man rose his hand to imply a wave and said, "Oh, hey."

However, while walking toward her, he ended up tripping over his own feet and ended up pushing Cindy down with him. The man groaned and slowly pushed himself up only to feel his hands pressed up against something soft and familiar, giving it a light squeeze. He then opened his eyes and noticed his hands were once again pressed up against Cindy's chest.

Cindy closed her eyes and mouth tight while Damien quickly retracted his hands and got off of her, saying, "Sorry."

The woman slowly pushed herself up to her feet and shook her head saying, "No, it's okay. I know you didn't mean to do it," her cheeks bright pink as a sweet smile formed on her face.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Damien asked, "So, what did Morgan want?" Cindy stating, "I'm just going to look for a core today. Nothing too special."

Damien nodded before asking, "Are you okay going by yourself?" the woman nodding and saying, "I'll be fine."

A part of her wanted to tell the man that this was all thanks to him and that she loved him for it. Unfortunately, confessing her feelings was one fear she had not yet overcome, and considering how difficult this was for even the bravest of individuals, one could only imagine how long it would be until that happened.

Either way, Cindy was soon out on patrol with a tracking device installed into her mech. However, she had not picked up on any signals just yet, which was rather worrisome considering how strong core signals normally were. Could this mean that the night workers were wrong?

Whatever the case, it seemed Glen had the same theory as Drake was also passing through this area in search of the same thing. And like Cindy, his tracking device had not picked up on anything just yet.

"This better not be a waste of time," Drake sighed, "It would suck to finally get an assignment only to end up looking for nothing."

And while this went on, Cindy continued her own search when suddenly, she heard a noise. The woman turned and squeaked in panic when a big falcon headed straight for her. The woman took a deep breath as she knew she would need to fend it off herself. After all, Scarlet was not with her.

With that, the woman quickly drew the card at the top of her deck and summoned it without even looking to see which monster she had drawn, or even if it was a monster at all. Luckily, she had managed to draw her Steamroid as the train rushed at the bird.

However, the falcon saw this coming and easily flew over the machine. Cindy panicked and had her mech whip out its baton and send it hard across the bird's chest. Unfortunately, this seemed to have little effect as the bird proceeded to cling to the mech's neck and start pecking away at its face.

"NO, STOP IT!" Cindy shrieked as her vitality went down by three hundred for each peck. And soon enough, it was at zero as it started to sputter, the woman screaming in terror and reaching for her jet pack.

Drake happened to be nearby when he heard this, his eyes widening. He then examined the scene and noticed it was one of Crystal City's mechs, the man shaking his head and knowing it was not his place to help one of them out.

However, what happened next made him rethink this as when Cindy propelled herself out of her mech and activated her pack, the falcon immediately flew over to her and pried the machine off of her back. On the upside, the motor had just started and thus the falcon was forced away from the area seeing as it was still clinging to the jet pack. But the downside to all of this was that Cindy was falling from a great height and would likely die if she hit the ground.

Drake gritted his teeth and thought, 'Forgive me, sir,' before heading toward the pink-haired woman and getting to her just in time to have his mech hold out its hand and stop her from hitting the ground. Cindy had her eyes closed while she trembled in fear, feeling rather ashamed of herself for panicking like she had. It seemed while she felt confident facing soldiers, she was not ready for wildlife just yet.

However, after a few seconds, she realized she was still alive as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around asking, "What happened?" resting her hands on the hand that was holding her and added, "And why's the ground so cold?"

She then got up and turned around to see a familiar black mech right in front of her. Cindy did not exactly remember every opponent she had ever come across, but even she knew full well what Drake's mech looked like and that if she were to ever encounter it, it was bad news.

As such, the woman panicked and backed up only for Drake to have his mech's fingers stop her as he exclaimed, "Wait! Don't panic! You might fall and hurt yourself!"

Cindy blinked and started to tremble, but she knew he was right. She was still quite a ways up from the ground and even if she survived the fall, there was no way she could possibly return to the base on foot. And when Drake offered to let her ride inside his mech while he flew back toward his base, she knew she had no choice but to accept, though needless to say, she was terrified beyond belief.

With that, Drake took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry I'm taking you to my base first. It's just that I sent a report to my general that there was no core here and I'd be returning to the base soon. If I don't return within the next half-hour, he'll think something's gone wrong."

Cindy nodded, not sure if he was telling the truth or just coming up with an excuse in order to fool her into trusting him. Either way, she was in no position to resist, especially since she had no way to contact her friends. Though ultimately, a part of her was a tad relieved that there was no core in the valley. After all, if there had been one, she would have just failed an important mission.

During this time, Damien had just finished a practice duel with Scarlet as the woman blinked and said, "Wow, you beat me rather easily," the man nodding and replying, "Well, you have helped me a lot."

The redhead nodded and thought, 'You know what? I think he might just be right for Cindy. I know I probably shouldn't get involved, but I think I'll try and help her out just a little bit.'

"So," Scarlet asked while doing her best to look natural, "Just out of curiosity, what do you think of Cindy?"

"Well, she's a very nice girl," Damien replied, "She still needs a little help when it comes to socializing, but I think she has the potential to make more friends. She just needs to see it."

Scarlet nodded and stated, "Well, you have certainly helped her out a lot with that. Though is there anything else you can say? I don't think this is really all that important, but what do you think of her appearance?"

Damien would have risen an eyebrow if he remembered how, but he kept his usual look on his face and shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Well, she is kinda cute I guess. Sometimes I wonder if her social anxiety might have been a result of guys constantly asking her out in high school."

Scarlet stared blankly at him for a few seconds, not wanting to dignify that with a response. Whatever the reason was, Damien seemed to lose interest in this topic as he asked, "Say, Scarlet, aside from army work and swimming, what do you like to do for fun?"

The redhead blinked and found this a rather odd question. Every time Damien asked her about something, it was often work-related and yet now just out of the blue, he was asking about her own past times. But there was certainly no harm in this as she shrugged and told him about a few things she enjoyed.

Before joining the army, she used to go on lots of long walks every evening, something Damien was more than familiar with. Though what shocked him the most was when he heard that she also liked to hang out at bars and was kind of disappointed when she first discovered Crystal City's army base did not have one. In fact, like Damien, she had her own personal stash of alcoholic beverages, but each one was just a different flavor of beer.

"Geez, you're missing out," Damien remarked, "Hey, wanna come to my room? I got this cranberry wine that'll blow your mind," and of all things, he had managed to say this with his usual neutral expression.

Scarlet had no idea how the conversation had gone from trying to get him interested in Cindy to this, but the redhead was rather intrigued. As such, she nodded and gave the man a light smile, replying, "Sure. It sounds delicious," the two heading off to Damien's room.

All the while, Drake was at the entrance to the base as Cindy trembled, the man saying, "Don't worry. No one's going to know who you are. If anyone here will recognize anything related to you, it'll be your mech and nothing else. Just stick with me and I'll make sure no one turns you in to the authorities."

Cindy nodded and stayed close by but refused to make physical contact with the man. It was already hard enough for her to trust strangers, but being near Crystal City's biggest threat was quite possibly the worst thing that could have happened to her.

Drake looked through the halls and noticed it was not too crowded, though he had expected this. Normally on calm days like this, soldiers preferred to relax in the pool, game room or whatever else they could think of. But best of all, Taylor was too busy making origami monsters with Angela. Shockingly enough, the two had spent a good chunk of the day making sculptures based off of their cards and doing a masterful job of it.

The only one who was not off having fun was Katherine. In fact, she had spent all of this time preparing her confession to Drake. She just knew that she had to seize this day and the next time she saw the man, she would let him know exactly how she felt.

Though things had gotten rather complicated when Glen noticed Drake had returned and approached him while he and Cindy walked the halls. The middle-aged man gave his top soldier an army salute and said, "Welcome back, Drake. Sorry your mission was a waste of time, eh?" a light grin on his face when he noticed the woman next to him.

"Excuse me, but who is that?" Glen asked, "You know we don't allow visitors, right?" Cindy squeaking in terror while trembling, Drake fibbing, "I found her lost in the valley. If what she's told me is correct, she was taking a plane to meet her folks when it was attacked by a falcon. She was the soul survivor and the plane was taken apart likely to build a nest."

Glen nodded and said, "Good work bringing her here, soldier. Do you know where she's from?" Drake replying, "Not yet. She's rather shaken up from the experience, so it was difficult getting as much info out of her as I did," Cindy staring in disbelief while he added, "but if it's alright with you, sir, I would like to return her home when she finally musters up the courage to tell me."

Glen nodded and replied, "You're a good man, Drake. Strong and kind. Keep up the good work."

And with that, the general headed back toward his office while Drake took a deep breath, looked around and noticed the coast was clear. With that, he proceeded to say, "I think it's safe to talk now, but I'll warn you when to stop, alright?"

Cindy nodded and uttered, "Why are you helping me like this?" the blue-haired man replying, "Look, our job in the army is to prevent you guys from finding the means of which to stop us. Killing soldiers is not part of our description. My only real goal is to win the war for us and bring it to an end, and since it's actually possible to fight in this war without killing anyone, I have no complaints."

"Is that why you saved me?" Cindy asked as Drake stated, "Yes. When I saw that you couldn't escape, I couldn't leave you to fend for yourself. Not even the toughest of people can survive in the wilderness, especially when the animals out there have evolved to such a massive size."

During this time, Katherine was walking down the hallway while she said to herself, "Drake, ever since the day I met you, I knew you were right for me," the woman groaning, "That sounds way too cheesy."

However, it was at that exact moment that she noticed Drake standing before Cindy and having a conversation. She simply shook her head and figured the pink-haired woman must have been a new recruit and Drake was simply giving her directions to help navigate the building. As such, she decided to wait until the two were done talking to get her confession out of the way. However, she also wanted to remain hidden so it would not seem like she was spying on the man of her dreams.

"Anyway," Drake said, "we'd probably better head off sooner than later, especially since Glen knows I'll be taking off with you soon enough."

'Taking off with her?' Katherine thought as Cindy nodded only for her stomach to growl. As it just so happened, the woman had eaten less than usual for breakfast as Morgan had called her to her office halfway through it.

Drake blinked and sighed, "But before we do that, you're coming with me. I have something that can help with that," Katherine's eyes widening.

The blue-haired woman shook her head and figured she was being foolish. After all, he was probably just being courteous. For all Katherine knew, the two were probably going out on a team mission, though it seemed odd for someone as high in status as Drake to be paired up with a new recruit.

However, the woman's suspicions rose when Cindy uttered, "Okay, I guess I can spare a few more minutes, but I'd like to return home soon," Katherine now mortified. The only way a soldier could return home was if he or she quit, but who would sign up for the army just to quit on the first day?

Had Drake snuck a girl into the base? Furthermore, had Glen actually allowed it? Whatever the case, Katherine would not stick around any longer as she had light tears rolling down her cheeks and ran off from the area.

Soon enough, the two headed to Drake's room as Aadil, who was lying in his bed reading a book, looked up and said, "Oh, hey man," his eyes going wide as he asked, "Whoa, who's the cutie over there?" Cindy blushing bright and tensing up as Drake sighed, "She's a lost civilian. I'm returning her home in a few minutes."

"Do you need help with that?" the African man asked as Drake replied, "Unfortunately, Glen only wants me doing it in case something comes up and you'll be needed."

"Oh, okay," Aadil replied before grinning and replying, "You're one lucky woman. Drake here is our top soldier, so you won't find yourself in better hands."

Cindy felt beyond nervous as the Drake explained, "She's not good with strangers," Aadil nodding and saying, "Alright," before getting out of bed and holding out his hand with a gentlemanly composure. Cindy's eyes went wide as he said, "Hello, a pleasure to meet you, madam. I am Aadil."

Cindy strangely found the gentleman act even more intimidating but did not wish to be rude. As such, she weakly held out her hand and shook his, uttering, "I'm Cindy. Nice to meet you too."

Aadil let out a sigh and said, "Well, back to reading," before lying on his bed and opening up his book. While he did that, Drake reached into a drawer and pulled out a small snack bar, saying, "I have these mail ordered to me once a month. They help when I feel I haven't had enough for the day."

Cindy smiled lightly and squeaked, "Thank you!" before opening the wrapper and adding, "It's funny, I have a friend with his own stash, though his is alcoholic drinks."

"Oh, do you drink?" Drake asked as the woman shook her head and replied, "No," the blue-haired man replying, "Me neither. Personally, I find alcohol repulsive."

"Damn straight," Aadil replied, "I'm telling you, you should at least a screwdriver. You won't even notice the alcohol in that. Or heck, try a Pina Colada. Those are tasty."

Drake rolled his eyes and remarked, "I've had virgin Pina Coladas before. That's good enough for me," Cindy squealing, "I like those too. Once you take away the alcohol, they're so good," the woman taking a bite of the snack bar Drake had given her.

"Anyway, I think we should be heading off now," the blue-haired man stated as Aadil waved and said, "Good luck out there, man," Cindy now starting to warm up to Drake. Sure, a small act of kindness were not normally enough for her trust someone, but she truly felt like there was nothing bad about this person. He was just like any other soldier, a human being trying to protect his home.

And soon enough, Drake had Cindy ride next to her in his mech. He suggested dropping her off just outside the city as he knew what would happen if anyone saw his mech and Cindy understood entirely. Drake even offered to give her money for a cab back to the base, though the woman felt confident using her own money for that.

And with that, the two took off while Katherine entered the hanger and watched the mech leave, a look of fury in her eyes. However, she put on a more neutral look when Glen entered the area and said, "Good, that civilian will be returned home soon."

"Civilian?" Katherine asked as she now feared even more than her suspicions were correct, but this was put to ease when Glen added, "Yeah, said she was lost in the valley. A plane she was riding in was struck down, so Drake took her back here for safety."

"Oh," the blue-haired woman said as her eyes sparkled, "He's such a gentleman."

Glen blinked and whispered, "Word to the wise, you might wanna get to know him personally before making any confessions," the man heading back toward his office while the woman blinked and asked, "Was it that obvious?"

While Drake flew his mech toward Crystal City, Cindy turned to him and asked, "I have to ask something. Why is someone as nice as you fighting in the army?" the man replying, "I told you, I joined so I could end the war sooner."

"Yes, but why specifically do you want to end it all?" the woman uttered as Drake took a deep breath and replied, "Well, I've never had a problem telling anyone about this. The reason I fight is for my sister. See, she's been sick in bed for a long time. She can only get up every now and then, but the doctors have said that in a few months, she'll be completely cured and will be able to head outside again. I want the war to be over when that happens, and I want her to know that we were the ones who ended it, or rather, that I was the one who ended it."

Cindy's eyes were wide with shock as he added, "I worked my way to the top because I knew that was the only way my general would allow me to perform such a task. In fact, that bomb I tried to attach to the base not too long ago was supposed to give us the edge we needed, but one of your newcomers ruined that."

"Oh, you mean Damien," Cindy replied before gasping and clasping her hands against her mouth, Drake nodding and saying, "So that's his name. Good to know, I guess."

"Oh no, you're not spiteful towards him, are you!?" Cindy squeaked as Drake sighed, "A little, but I already told you, I have no intention of killing anyone. My only aim is to stop you guys from opposing us."

"Thank goodness," Cindy replied with a sigh as Drake asked, "So, why did you freak out at the thought of me harming him in particular?"

All went silent as her cheeks turned bright pink, Drake nodding in understanding as he asked, "Well, does he know?"

"No," Cindy whimpered, "I'm afraid I may never find the strength to tell him how I feel. I'm just hoping someday he'll fall for me and confess."

"Bad idea," Drake remarked, "First of all, if you don't feel you know enough about him, try to get more information about him while sharing facts about yourself as well. Then when you feel that both of you know each-other well enough, set up a nice atmosphere and tell him your true feelings. Get help from a close friend who won't blab about it if you must, but if you hold this sort of thing off too long, it might be too late."

"Oh, okay," Cindy replied with a sigh, "Do you have experience with that?" Drake shrugging his shoulders and replying, "No, but Aadil does. Back in his home country, Africa, he lost a couple of women he had a deep attraction towards that way. He's cool with it, but it ate away at him for quite some time."

"Wow," Cindy said with a big smile, "All this time, I was afraid of you guys but at least some of you are nice," Drake nodding and asking, "By the way, you said you don't like alcohol. What other kinds of drinks do you like?"

"Fruit punch is my favourite," Cindy replied as the man grinned and said, "Mine too. Anything with a big mix of berries and other fruits makes for a perfect combination, doesn't it?"

And soon enough, Drake arrived outside the city and dropped Cindy off. Once out, she thanked him greatly for his help and called up a cab. But while waiting for one to arrive, she also decided to give Scarlet a call to assure the redhead that she was alright.

During this time, Scarlet had sampled all of Damien's alcoholic beverages, save for his Tequila as the redhead had shattered the bottle not too long ago. In fact, the woman was half-drunk as her cheeks were pink, the woman saying, "I have to admit, I never thought wine could be so good."

"Too bad I'm almost out," Damien replied as the redhead laughed like an insane person and replied, "That's okay. We're allowed to have things mail ordered to us here. How else do you think I keep my beer stash full?"

It was at that moment, her cell rang as she answered it. Needless to say, both she and Damien were glad she was okay. However, Scarlet was having so much fun that for the first time, she actually kept the call short. And Cindy was perfectly okay with that as she did not wish to go into full detail about how she had rescued and where she had been for the last little while.


	15. Chapter 15

It was another typical morning at the base as Cindy had woken up extra early. The pink-haired woman had actually had a bit of difficulty staying asleep. After getting courting tips from Drake, she wanted to try them out as soon as possible.

Damien had also woken up fairly early. It seemed he had gotten used to it ever since he joined the army.

The man was on his way to the bathroom when he noticed Cindy standing right in front of his door, the woman having been less than a second away from knocking. She blinked and smiled bright, saying, "Good morning, Damien."

"Oh, hey," the man replied, "What's up?" Cindy replying, "Just wanted to have a conversation with you before Morgan starts assigning missions."

"Okay," Damien replied, "but I need to take a leak first," Cindy nodding and replying, "That's perfectly understandable."

With that, Cindy walked with him to the bathroom as he entered. The woman waited patiently outside as she knew patience was an important part of being in a relationship. And once Damien was done, he came out and resumed walking with Cindy.

"So, Damien," Cindy uttered, "I know you like to drink for fun, but what are some other things you like to do?" the man scratching the back of his head and replying, "Well, there wasn't a whole lot until now. I've only just become interested in swimming. I guess something else I did a lot before joining the army was take long walks in the evening."

The woman nodded and said, "That sounds nice. It was hard for me to go on walks before, but now that I'm becoming more social, I could probably handle it now."

"That's good," Damien replied as the woman asked, "Aside from alcohol, are there any other drinks you like?" the man shrugging his shoulders and replying, "Well, orange juice and milk are a gimme. They help keep me alive."

Cindy had to admit this was not at all what she expected, but she refused to give up as she stated, "Well, I really like fruit punch," Damien nodding his head and saying, "That sort of thing is alright, but the only time I've ever had it is at birthday parties. Unfortunately, it's been ages since I was invited to one."

"It's a shame we have to live here," Cindy replied with a sigh, "I would definitely invite you to my next birthday party. You and Matt would be the only guests besides Scarlet."

Cindy had a big smile on her face as Damien nodded and replied, "That sounds like it would be fun," before asking, "Why are you asking me all these questions?"

"Well, we hardly get to talk about anything that isn't related to duelling," Cindy replied as the man nodded and said, "That's a fair point."

And so the conversation continued until Cindy asked, "Say, Damien, have you ever been attracted to someone before?" the man blinking and taking a deep breath, replying, "That's a chapter of my life I've been trying to forget."

Cindy's eyes went wide as the man sighed, "It was during my middle school days, back when I used to smile. Yeah, I used to do that."

Cindy giggled at the thought of that as he continued, "I met a nice young girl named Samantha. She was not the most beautiful girl in school, but she seemed like my type for sure. I was very shy at first but eventually, I mustered up the courage to ask her out."

"What did she say?" Cindy asked with much interest as Damien replied, "She said yes, and we went out for a few weeks. She made me feel so happy."

Damien almost managed to smile just thinking about the times they had spent together until he sighed, "But everything fell apart when some guy named Adam moved into town. He was the most handsome boy in school and as such, everyone fell for him instantly."

"Oh no, did Samantha dump you for him?" Cindy asked as Damien replied, "Actually, no. She had the common sense not to, and that made me love her even more. To her, a handsome exterior meant nothing."

"Sounds to me like you had a perfect relationship," the woman replied as Damien nodded and added, "Unfortunately, it all went downhill when she had a conversation with him. See, there was an event and two students were to volunteer to work on it. Of course Samantha gladly did so, but she knew I wasn't into that sort of thing, so she didn't try to pressure me into helping her. I told her I would volunteer if it would help but she insisted that she did not wish for me to torture myself just for her sake."

"I don't like where this is going," Cindy squeaked, "She sounds so perfect," Damien groaning, "Yeah, and so was Adam. See, of all the students, he was the last one anyone would have expected to volunteer and yet he was the second student to sign up. And from what she told me, the two needed a way to help get them through set-up and of course they got to talking. And as Samantha put it, she was absolutely shocked by how much Adam had in common with her."

"Oh no," Cindy murmured as Damien sighed, "I had a few similar interests, but Adam seemed like he was made for Samantha. He was almost exactly like her and, well, it was true love. There was nothing I could do about it."

Cindy looked down and uttered, "I'm so sorry," Damien replying, "Don't be," the woman then asking, "Is that when you started drinking?"

"Oh no, I took that up a month later," Damien stated, "But this was the moment where I was unable to smile again. My parents tried effortlessly to make me happy and I assured them I liked what they were doing, but I just couldn't prove it with my facial features. And when they died, I had a feeling I might never smile again."

Cindy let down light tears as Damien wiped them from her eyes and said, "I'm getting over it now. You and Scarlet have been helping with that. And I guess Matt's been helping a bit too."

The woman nodded and gave him a light smile, the two headed toward the cafeteria as she asked, "So, would you say that event turned you off of dating forever?" Damien shrugging his shoulders and replying, "If I find the right person, I might just try it again," Cindy taking a deep breath. However, despite all of her progress, she was now having trouble mustering up the courage to ask Damien out.

And it was not her usual nervousness that was getting the better of her, either. This time, she could not help but wonder if she could be the opposite of Samantha and stay loyal and true to Damien. She did not wish for him to go through another phase like that and this was a lifetime together she was thinking about. Perhaps she would need to know him just a bit more first.

And soon enough, all four friends were seated for breakfast as each asked how the other was. Even Damien found himself interested in the simple subject matter of how everyone was feeling this morning.

However, during the conversation, Cindy tapped Scarlet on the shoulder as she said, "Excuse me, guys, I need to use the lady's room for a bit," before getting up, the pink-haired woman adding, "Um, me too," before heading off with her friend.

"Wow, I'm amazing," Damien said, "I can't imagine spending more than ten minutes after waking up without a trip to the bathroom," Matt nodding and replying, "They must have bladders of steel."

And with that, the two entered the nearest bathroom and thankfully, they were the only ones there. With that in mind, Scarlet took a deep breath and asked, "So, what do you wanna talk about?"

"Well, I'm not sure if I should tell Damien how I feel," Cindy replied with a look of shame, the redhead nodding and saying, "I figured as much."

"No, it's not my shyness getting the better of me," the pink-haired woman explained, "It's just, well..."

And with that, she told Scarlet a brief summary of the story Damien had told her. The redhead was rather surprised to hear of this, but it did explain a lot of things. But of course, she was rather concerned about how guilty if made her friend feel.

"It's just when I was asking what his interests were, he barely seemed to agree with me on anything," Cindy replied, "I feel like I need to know more about him. If we can't do a bunch of things together, that'll make me a bad girlfriend and then either one of us will have to break up with the other. But if I break up with him, he might never be happy again."

Scarlet nodded and replied, "That's a good point. But you might have a chance. I asked him what he thought of you while you were off on your mission yesterday and he told me he that he finds you to be a very nice girl and he thinks you're cute."

Cindy's cheeks turned beet red as she uttered, "He thinks I'm cute?" Scarlet nodding and replying, "You've only asked him bare-bones questions anyway. Maybe find out what kind of music he likes or more of his interests. We got him into swimming. Maybe you can introduce him to more of your interests and see if he ends up liking them."

Cindy nodded as the redhead added, "Oh, and by the way, I got some info from him yesterday as well. I found out a little something while discovering my new found love of wine."

Cindy blinked and asked, "You like wine now?" Scarlet ignoring the question and whispering, "Damien likes chick flicks and classical music. Those are two things we both love."

Cindy nodded with a big smile and squealed, "Wow, I never would have guessed!" the woman giggling as well. Now she had started to love Damien even more. Perhaps a relationship between the two of them could work.

However, before they could think about this further, the speaker came on as Scarlet and Damien were both called to Morgan's office. Scarlet let out a sigh and said, "We'll talk about this later if you'd like. And hey, maybe I can help you out while we're off on our mission."

Cindy nodded and gave her friend a quick hug before Scarlet took off from the bathroom. Damien arrived at that exact second and took a deep breath, saying, "Oh, good, you're done."

And with that, both soldiers had been sent on a mission to find a powerful shoulder piece. Apparently it had been dropped in the Tanzanite Ocean. Luckily, all mechs were waterproof and could even function underwater, but standard jet packs could not. As such, they had to bring scuba gear in case their mechs were destroyed along with underwater jet packs, which people wore on their wrists.

When the two arrived and headed underwater, both started up their metal detectors as Scarlet asked, "Say, Damien, just out of curiosity, what's your favourite colour."

"Well, it's a tie between black and red," the man replied, "Why do you ask?" Scarlet replying, "Well, since we're friends, I figure we may as well know more about each-other, right?"

However, a part of her could not believe what she had heard. Sure, black was not a favourite colour of hers, but she did certainly love red. Though at the same time, she tried to think little of it and come up with a better question.

But this would have to wait when suddenly, both noticed another mech, a rather buff-looking one with a club strapped to its back. With that, Damien and Scarlet had their mechs turn to one-another, nod their heads and slowly make their way over to the enemy mech from behind. And once they were close enough, both pressed the button labelled 'Engage' to unleash orbs from the sides of their mechs.

The New Domino soldier turned in response to this and grinned, saying, "Oh, you shouldn't have done that. Now you're gonna deal with an amazing soldier, one almost as powerful as Drake himself."

Scarlet blinked and said, "That's a rather bold claim," Drake looking at his vitality and saying, "Well, his mech does have thirty-seven hundred vitality. He might not be blowing smoke."

"Damn straight!" the man, who had long blond hair, replied, "I an Allen and many call me the knight of New Domino. It is a pity you cannot gaze upon my face right now, but if you could, you would be swooning, and yes, I do mean both of you," the man having his mech wink at them.

Damien shuttered and groaned, "That was creepy," Scarlet nodding in agreement, Allen sighing, "Oh, if you could only see my handsome face, you'd be so very jealous!"

With that, a voice came from Damien's mech and said, "Your move. Please draw a card," Damien nodding and doing just that while saying, "Alright, let's try to make this quick."

Not wanting to take any major risks just yet, Damien put most of his focus on a monster with a defence power of nineteen hundred. Sure, it had no attack power, but it could still help in the long run. As such, he summoned the monster in defence mode and ended his turn.

"Oh, you call that a move?" Allen asked tauntingly, "Please, I can do so much better than that."

"Alright, prove it," Damien remarked as the man blinked and drew his next card, scowling toward the red mech and remarking, "Fine. I will, good sir."

And with that, the man looked over his hand and gulped. It seemed his smug behaviour was just an act as the only monsters he had in his hand were high in level and he only had one trap. But even so, a trap card was better than nothing and as such, he placed it face-down and ended is turn.

"Oh, look, you only had one card too," Damien stated as Allen sighed, "I am merely giving you a fighting chance, for when I unleash my monsters upon you, you will be sorry."

"Okay, I wanna jump into his mech and punch him in the face," Damien grunted as Scarlet sighed, "Me too. But at the very least, he's making it easy for us to strike him."

With that, the redhead drew her next card and smiled lightly, saying, "This is gonna be sweet."

And with that, the woman placed a trap face-down before summoning a yellow bird with a red horn. This monster was known as 'Birdface' and had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

Allen blinked and said, "That's a pretty strong monster, I must say," Scarlet nodding before initiating a direct attack, her mech reaching for its side and holding its chakram.

But just as Birdface soared toward Allen's mech, the man smiled smugly and said, "Oh, nice try," before revealing his trap card to be 'Negate Attack'. And with that, both attacks were stopped dead in their tracks as Damien blinked and said, "Oh, wow, he actually had a decent strategy lined up."

"That's right!" Allen exclaimed with a proud grin, "I am afraid your luck has run out, for on this, my second turn, I will strike you down!"

"Oh, right, I forgot this is how two-on-one duels worked," Damien sighed as Scarlet's turn came to a close. The redhead was rather disappointed and really hoped that Allen was bluffing about his monsters.

However, this did not seem the case as when the blond man drew, a big smile formed on his face as he said, "And now it is time! Behold your demise!"

"Just shut up and get on with it!" both soldiers retorted as Allen sighed, "Very well. But I guess I can't blame your impatience."

With that, the man summoned a man clad in armour made from the bones of dragons. This man was known as 'Lord of D' and he had an attack power of twelve hundred.

While Scarlet was a tad alarmed by this, Damien was unimpressed as he asked, "That's your big, scary monster? Kind of a let-down," the redhead next to him uttering, "Actually, that monster can be very useful under the right circumstances."

"It would seem at least one of you is not completely uneducated," Allen replied with a smirk, "That's right, and I'm going to use my lord to his fullest."

With that, the man activated a spell called 'The Flute of Summoning Dragon', which resembled a horn in the shape of a serpent dragon. Lord of D took hold of the instrument and blew into it as it released a deep sound, Allen's mech bowing down as two blasts of light shot out of its back and two dragons took form.

Now Damien was alarmed as both of these monsters were powerful. One was a black serpent dragon in green armour named 'Chthonian Emperor Dragon' and had an attack power of twenty-four hundred. But the other one was even more intimidating as it was a big bird-like dragon covered in black armour. It had three thousand attack points and was known as 'Dark Horus'.

"Okay, I'm guessing that spell card allowed him to special summon those, right?" Damien asked as Scarlet nodded and replied, "Yeah, but the only downside to The Flute of Summoning Dragon is that Lord of D is the only one who can activate its effect."

"Yes, and as long as I have him on the field, none of these dragons can be effected by any card effects," Allen added with a grin, "Now victory is in the palm of my hand."

Damien gritted his teeth as Emperor Dragon sent a burst of dark energy from its mouth toward Damien's defending monster. The monster in question was a wooden robot dressed in a kimono and Japanese women's wig named 'Karakuri Komachi Model two hundred and twenty-four Ninishi'.

Since its defence was only nineteen hundred, the dragon easily made quick work of it as it was burned into ashes. But of course it did not end there as Allen had Dark Horus send its own black energy sphere into Birdface. Scarlet could have used her trap card, but it would not have helped in the slightest right now as the bird fell hard on its back and decayed into the ground.

And with that, the dark blast flew hard into Scarlet's mech as its vitality dropped to eighteen hundred. Needless to say, this was a very powerful blow, and it did not end there as Allen had his Lord of D deliver a hard punch to Damien's mech, bringing its vitality down to twenty-eight hundred.

Scarlet had to admit she was a tad scared now. On the first turn, Allen had not summoned so much as one monster and yet he had already destroyed both Crystal City soldiers' monsters and dealt quite a bit of damage too.

"It's a shame it had to end so soon, but let's face it, you don't have much to use against these beauties, do you?" Allen asked tauntingly while Damien's turn started. However, when the man drew his next card, he breathed a sigh of relief as it at least looked like he could buy himself and Scarlet some time.

With that, Damien placed a trap face-down and summoned a blue warrior with fiery hair named 'Neo Flamvell Sabre'. Allen was rather confused by his choice to send it into attack mode as it only had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

"Excuse me, but is that supposed to scare me?" Damien remarking, "He's more useful than you're giving him credit for. If my opponent has four or less monsters in his or her graveyard, he gains six hundred attack points, and you don't have any of those."

Allen let out an over-dramatic gasp when Sabre's attack sent up to twenty-one hundred. However, the blond man's fear subsided just as quickly as it emerged while he asked, "I don't get it. How is this going to help you again?"

"Well, I'll end up dealing more damage to you when I destroy your precious Lord of D over there," Damien remarked as Allen's eyes and mouth were wide open. He had to admit, he had not quite thought about that possibility. Sure, Lord of D may have protected the two dragons from card effects, but the dragons would not protect him.

With that, Sabre charged at Lord of D and sliced the man down the middle with his flame sword. The warrior then fell hard on his back and decayed into the ground while Damien's monster proceeded to strike Allen's mech, bringing his vitality down to twenty-eight hundred.

"Were there any stronger monsters in your hand?" Scarlet asked as Damien replied, "Yeah, but their base attack points weren't even close to twenty-one hundred, so this made more sense."

Scarlet nodded and replied, "That's actually good thinking. Good job, Damien," Allen sighing, "Have you already forgotten that my dragons are still alive?"

The blond man did have a point as both of his dragons were still standing, Damien saying, "Oh, darn. I thought maybe killing that dragon guy would automatically destroy the dragons or something. This game has had stranger logic than that."

And to make matters worse, Damien's turn had come to an end as Allen laughed and said, "That was a rather noble effort on your part, but while I may be one monster shorter, all this really does is prevent your demise a tad longer. Your friend, on the other hand, will not make it through this turn."

Scarlet groaned as the man had a point. All he needed was to strike her once with his Emperor Dragon and it was over. And as Allen drew his card, he ignored what he had drawn and had Dark Horus aim an attack at Sabre first.

But just as the dragon opened fire, Damien flipped over his face-down card to reveal his own 'Negate Attack'. As a result, a swirling vortex appeared and unleashed a bright light, ending Allen's attack phase.

"So you have prolonged your demise further," Allen sighed, "Oh well, it's not like it'll help you all that much anyway."

Damien hated to admit it, but the blond man had a point. Both of his dragons were very powerful and neither Damien nor Scarlet had anything that could overpower even one of them right now.


	16. Chapter 16

Things were not looking good as Allen had two powerful dragons on his side of the field and all Scarlet and Damien could do right now was prolong their defeat in the hopes that they would draw something useful. However, Scarlet was starting to tense up. None of the cards in her hand could help her and her trap card was hardly of use to her.

Even so, she drew her next card as her eyes went wide. She had a drawn a monster known as 'X-Head Cannon', a machine that was part of a set of three monsters. The others in question were 'Z-Metal Tank' and 'Y-Dragon Head'. While these were far from the best monsters she had in her deck, when used together, they made for a rather powerful combination and currently, Scarlet had all three in her hand.

But with Allen's dragons on the field, she would only be able to summon one before having it destroyed. The only other way she could possibly make use of them was if she had Polymerization and unfortunately, she did not have that in her hand.

As such, all she could do was delay the inevitable just a tad longer as she sighed, "Damien, I hate to say it, but I think we're gonna lose this one."

"Doth thine ears deceive me?" Allen gasped, "Are you admitting defeat already? Oh, glorious day!"'

"Don't give in just yet," Damien remarked as Scarlet's eyes widened, the man adding, "You were the one who taught me to think logically in situations like these. You helped me better myself. To hear you of all people talking about quitting just doesn't sound right. He may have us on the run right now, but our vitality is still high enough to survive a little bit longer. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that sometimes in the game of Yu-Gi-Oh, life throws you a bone when you least expect it."

Scarlet had to admit, Damien had a point. Sure, his wording could have been a lot better, but he was right. If Scarlet gave up now, she could give up on a chance to win for good. After all, she had almost every card she needed to turn this all around. All she needed to do was last a little bit longer.

With that in mind, the redhead took a deep breath and summoned a monster in defence mode thus ending her turn. Allen simply rolled his eyes and figured this was meaningless as he drew his next card with a smirk.

"Oh, things just got better for me," the blond man stated as he activated an equip spell called 'Sword of Deep Seated'. The mech fired a burst of energy into Chthonian Emperor Dragon's hand as a black sword emitting a dark aura appeared in his grip. This brought his attack power up to twenty-nine hundred as he was now even more powerful.

With that, Allen had Dark Horus send a sphere of energy into Sabre, the blue warrior crying out in pain as he fell hard on his back, sinking into the seabed. The sphere then hit Damien hard as his vitality went down to nineteen hundred.

Allen proceeded to smirk as he said, "I'm not even going to bother with your little friend. I think I'm going to finish you off first," Damien now terrified as he knew what this meant. His mother's mech would be destroyed.

However, Damien knew he could do nothing to stop this as he closed his eyes only for Scarlet to exclaim tauntingly, "What's wrong!? You scared he might pull off another miracle!?"

Allen and Damien both turned to the redhead as she added, "I thought knights were supposed represent honour and truth. In fact, for a so-called 'knight', you sure as hell don't fit the description of one. Your mech resembles a barbarian and wields a club. You use dragons instead of knights. But worst of all, you have no sense of chivalry."

Allen's eyes widened as Drake whistled in admiration. And it seemed this had worked as Allen took a deep breath and stated, "You know what? You're right. I should at least give you more of a sporting chance. Alright, show me what you got."

And with that, he had Emperor Dragon fly toward Scarlet's monster, revealing it to be an eagle wearing goggles and a jet pack. The dragon easily sliced it open and thus Allen's turn came to a close.

'Please let my efforts be worth something,' Scarlet thought as Damien drew his next card, the man feeling satisfied as the card was 'Monster Reborn'. To make things even better, he had a card in his hand that he knew would work. And it had a lightning bolt in the top right-hand corner. And to top it all off, Scarlet had taught Damien exactly what this meant.

With that, the man summoned a monster in defence mode and had the mech bring him to his end phase. He then proceeded to activate his Monster Reborn, Allen gasping when he chose to bring back Ninishi in attack mode.

However, Allen's shock became confidence as he snickered and said, "Oh, you moron. You shouldn't have summoned that monster in attack mode. Now you're going to get it."

Damien said nothing to this as Scarlet bit her lower lip and whimpered, "Oh no! Why did you do that!?"

However, her fear turned to confusion when Damien had his mech give the woman thumbs up. Of course, Allen had no idea what this meant as he started his turn and said, "Well, before I completely obliterate you, I got a few cards I need to set just in case your friend there tries something."

With that, blond man proceeded to place four trap cards face-down and explained, "By the way, I've had these in my hand for a long time. I just felt no need to use them. But with victory so close, I think it's only fair to be extra prepared."

Scarlet whimpered as Damien sighed, "You know, you could easily take me out in one blow by using either of your monsters on my Ninishi, but why put those traps to waste?"

"You're right," Allen replied, "If I took you both out so easily, the traps would be useless. Alright, I'm game."

And with that, the blond man directed an attack with Emperor Dragon toward Damien's defending monster. The monster in question was another wooden robot, though this one was dressed more like a samurai with two daggers and its name was 'Kuick'. With a mere defence of fifteen hundred, this was an easy target, or so it seemed.

Just as Emperor Dragon's attack hit, Allen was shocked when Kuick was still standing. And to make things even more confusing, a shock wave emitted from the robot and struck Allen's mech, bringing his vitality down to twenty-three hundred.

"But how?" Scarlet asked when both she and Allen noticed it, a spell card known as 'Unity'. It was a quick-play spell that when used on a monster, it rose its defence to the equivalent of the defence of all face-up monsters on the player's side of the field until the end of the turn. As such, Kuick's defence had gone up to thirty-four hundred.

"Wow, that was brilliant!" Scarlet exclaimed as Damien nodded and replied, "Yeah, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have taken the time to figure that out," and though Scarlet could not see it, the man had a light smile on his face when he said this, though it did not last.

"Well, I must admit," Allen stated, "That really caught me off-guard. But no matter. I'll still finish you off when I strike your Ninishi."

But just as Dark Horus sent a blast of energy toward the wooden robot, it immediately switched to defence mode. As such, Damien took in no damage when it was destroyed.

Allen stared in horror and spat, "Okay, you must have cheated for that to happen!" Damien and his mech both shaking their heads as the man remarked, "Actually, that's an effect that all Karakuri Ninjas seem to have. When one of them is selected as an attack target and face-up, it has to switch its position no matter what. But there is a rather inconvenient effect that could have made my revival of Ninishi risky."

"What is that?" Allen asked as Damien stated, "See, Karakuri Ninjas also have no choice but to attack when given the chance. As such, I chose to bring Ninishi back to life during my end phase because monsters can't attack at that time."

Allen's jaw just about hit the surface he was resting his feet on while Scarlet and her mech both applauded Damien. They could not believe that someone who knew nothing of the game last week could pull off something this brilliant.

"So in other words, even if I hadn't taken your bait, you still wouldn't have taken in damage," Allen uttered as Damien nodded and replied, "Yep, my plan was pretty much risk-free."

'I never taught him anything like that,' Scarlet thought, 'Wow, he's come along so well in such a short time.'

Allen's turn came to an end as Damien said, "Alright, Scarlet, it's all up to you now," the redhead taking a deep breath and replying, "Right."

With that, the woman took a deep breath and drew. After Damien's tactic, the redhead had confidence once more as she looked at her card, her eyes widening as she could not believe her eyes. She had drawn exactly what she needed, 'Polymerization'.

The woman sported a serious look and exclaimed, "Allen, you have put up a valiant effort, but now everything you have done up to this point will go to waste!"

To start things off, Scarlet activated a spell card with a picture of a feather aptly named 'Harpie's Feather Duster'. Allen's eyes and mouth were wide open as all of his spell and trap cards were sent to the graveyard. This included Emperor Dragon's sword, thus his attack power returned to twenty-four hundred.

With that, the redhead proceeded to slap down her Polymerization as all three of her machines took to the field. Damien blinked and said, "I thought all your monsters were birds," Scarlet shaking her head and replying, "Like you, I prefer a little variety. It helps me catch my opponents off-guard."

Allen was certainly stunned, but his stun turned to sheer terror when all three started to combine. Z-Metal Tank, which resembled a yellow crab, expanded the size of its legs and lay against the ground. Y-Dragon Head, a mechanical red dragon, tucked its wings and legs in while expanding the width of its torso. Then with that, it proceeded to rest on top of the crab. Finally, X-Head Cannon, a blue robot with a spiked ball as its lower body and shoulder cannons inserted itself into a big opening that had formed on the dragon's back. And thus XYZ-Dragon Cannon was created and had an attack power of twenty-eight hundred.

"That is so cool," Damien uttered as Scarlet nodded and said, "I wouldn't have been able to pull this off without you. Thanks so much."

"Why are you celebrating?" Allen asked, "That monster's still weaker than my Horus!"

"Oh, that's what you think," Scarlet remarked as the robot charged up its shoulder cannons. And on that note, the redhead proceeded to flip over the trap she had set earlier, revealing it to be 'Strike Slash'.

Allen lowered his head in shame as the robot's attack rose to thirty-five hundred and thus the cannon blasts hit Dark Horus hard, the dragon's armour shattering at it cried out in pain. And with that, he ended up falling hard on his back before sinking into the sand, the cannon striking Allen's mech and bringing his vitality down to eighteen hundred.

Scarlet's turn came to a close as she took a deep breath and smiled lightly, having her mech give Damien's thumbs up. All the while, Allen slowly drew his next card and trembled, uttering, "I can still take care of your friend at least."

But before he could even try that, Scarlet had her mech fold her arms as she remarked, "Oh, you can, can you? You do know I can send monsters in attack mode to take in the attack for him, right?"

After hearing that, Allen lowered his arms and sighed, "Alright, I surrender. You may finish me off. I have nothing left."

Damien nodded and stated, "I had my suspicions, but I didn't think it was true until now. You really don't have any other monsters in your deck, do you?"

"It's true!" Allen groaned, "I've been using these cards to build myself a reputation all this time! I don't deserve to call myself a knight!"

"Now that I can agree with," Damien remarked as he drew a trap card and placed it face-down without hesitation. With that, he then proceeded to sacrifice Kuick in exchange for his last Karakuri Ninja, a robot with a blade for an arm and a purple cape named 'Nanashick'. This particular robot had twenty-two hundred attack points.

"Wait, what are you going to do with that?" Allen asked as Damien replied, "I'm going to destroy your last monster with my trap card, that's what."

And on that note, the man initiated his battle phase as Nanashick had no choice but to attack. But just as it seemed Emperor Dragon was going to destroy the ninja, Damien flipped over his trap and revealed it to be 'Rising Energy'. At the cost of one card from his hand, this trap would raise the attack power of whatever monster was engaged in battle by fifteen hundred points.

As such, Damien discarded the last card in his hand and brought Nanashick's power up to thirty-seven hundred, the robot slicing the dragon down the middle. It then proceeded to ram its blade arm into Allen's mech and bring his vitality down to six hundred.

The man's eyes were wide open as Damien said, "Well, I'm guessing you'll be skipping your turn, so, care to do the honours, Scarlet?"

"You'd better believe it," the redhead replied with a grin as she drew one last card. However, the card she had drawn did not matter as she wanted to end this the best way possible.

As such, Scarlet had her mech lift up its chakram and hurl it hard into Allen's mech, bringing his vitality down to zero. With that, the man took a deep breath and sighed, "I am a failure. I have no reason to go on."

Scarlet and Damien were both rather concerned until the blond man spat, "WHAT AM I THINKING!?" before propelling himself out of the mech completely covered in scuba gear. He then attached his underwater jet packs to his arms and took off while exclaiming, "I CONCEDE DEFEAT TODAY, BUT NEXT WE MEET, IT SHALL BE I WHO CLAIMS VICTORY!"

"Change your deck first," Scarlet remarked while rolling her eyes, Damien having his mech pat Scarlet's on the shoulder. Needless to say, this had certainly been successful. Now all that was left was to find the shoulder piece they had been searching for.

Once the two managed to do just that, they flew back toward the base while Scarlet said, "You know, you really amaze me, Damien," the man replying, "I do?"

"Well, last week you barely new a thing about the game," the redhead stated, "and yet in this duel alone, I saw you make a ton of expert decisions. We would have lost if you hadn't been on top of things."

"Well, I guess that's true," Damien said with a shrug, Scarlet then asking, "So, now that we can talk in peace again, who's your favourite music composer?"

And soon enough, the two returned to the base while both Damien and Scarlet had learned quite a bit about each-other. And of course the redhead did take the time to tell Damien what Cindy's thoughts toward the various subject matters were. Though the downside to all of this was that Scarlet had begun to see why Cindy was so unsure that a relationship between her and Damien could work.

Even so, she also knew that Cindy was not the kind of person who normally fell for guys due to her shy nature. As such, Scarlet saw this as her only chance to ever have that kind of future and as such, the woman just hoped that her friend would not be turned off by the information she had gathered.

Morgan greeted them with a big grin when she saw the shoulder piece and said, "Wow, Damien, you're really coming along," the man shrugging his shoulders and replying, "Well, It's not like I'm alone, right?"

With that, the man retreated to his quarters as Scarlet was just about to head off to find Cindy and tell her everything she had just found out about Damien. However, it seemed she did not need to go anywhere when a certain pink mech flew into the area to return from a mission.

The redhead blinked as Cindy got out and spotted her, a big smile forming on the pink-haired woman's face. Morgan immediately ran over to her and noticed that Cindy had succeeded, her job having been another oil gathering errand. Needless to say, the general was very pleased.

"Wow, did you just accomplish a solo mission?" Scarlet asked as her friend nodded and replied, "Yeah, I even beat this really tough soldier all by myself!"

Hearing this, Scarlet had no doubt in her mind that Cindy might just be ready to handle the information she had gathered. And as such, she and Cindy headed off to their room to discuss the details.

After Scarlet had told Cindy all she knew, the woman nodded and said, "Wow, he seems to have a lot more in common with you," the redhead not sure how to respond to this when the pink-haired woman beamed and squeaked, "It'll be my dating my best friend!"

"So you're fine with all of this?" the redhead asked as Cindy nodded and replied, "Yeah. Damien may not be interested in all of the things I am, but I know he's right for me. Thank you so much, Scarlet."

With that, the two friends hugged as Scarlet grinned, asking, "You sure you don't need me there to help you out?" the pink-haired woman nodding and replying, "I took on a soldier today by myself. I'm sure I can handle this."

And with that, Cindy exited the room and headed down the hall toward Damien's quarters. During this time, the man was lying down on his bed after having a quick sip of Bourbon. Right now, he just wanted to rest.

However, that would have to wait as he heard a knocking on the door, the man thinking, 'Okay, Matt never knocks. It's probably one of the others,' before getting up to open the door.

The man blinked as he saw Cindy standing there and said, "Oh, hey. What's up?" Cindy wanting to say her true feelings right now. However, just as she was about to do so, she once again started to tense up.

Why now of all times? She had been so sure of herself. However, she did not want to stare awkwardly at Damien the whole time and as such, she simply told him she wanted to talk to him. Besides, this might help her get to know him much better.

And so, the two simply shared the details about their latest missions. But while Cindy was fascinated by the strategy Damien had used, the man was much more interested in the pink-haired woman's story and could not help but feel impressed that she had managed to defeat a tough soldier all by herself.

"You've really grown," Damien said as Cindy nodded and replied, "And it's all thanks to you. You helped me realize just how good I could be," her cheeks bright pink.

After a few seconds, the woman suddenly asked, "Hey, Damien, if you were to start dating again, what would you look for?"

"What?" Damien remarked as Cindy sighed, "I'm wondering what you're looking for in a woman."

"Wow, I haven't thought about that in years," the man replied with a shrug, "but if you must know, well, I want someone I'd be happy to see everyday. I could wake up and see her sleeping next to me and even if I wouldn't be able smile on the outside, I would on the inside."

"So does it matter how much she has in common with you?" Cindy asked as the man shrugged and replied, "As long as I can do some things I enjoy with her, differences aren't a major problem for me. Going out to a movie we both enjoy, listening to the same kind of music together, that's all I'd really need."

'Oh my god, he's so perfect,' Cindy thought as she bit her lower lip, Damien asking, "Is there a particular reason you're asking me this?"

"Damien, I love you!" the woman squeaked as what happened next was shocking. Damien's eyes actually went wide, his mouth hanging open as he had no idea how to respond to this.


	17. Chapter 17

Things had certainly become awkward as Cindy had finally gathered the courage to confess her feelings for Damien. The man had absolutely no idea what to say to this. On one hand, it might have been too early to decide such a thing. But on the other hand, Damien had no idea how Cindy would react if he refused.

Cindy stared blankly as she hoped she had not scared him, the man taking a deep breath and saying, "Wow, I have to say, I was not expecting that," rubbing the back of his head nervously.

The woman pursed her lips as the man added, "Look, Cindy, I like you, but I'm not sure if I like you in that way. It's a little early."

"So you don't share my feelings," Cindy uttered as Damien shook his head and remarked, "No, yes, maybe! I don't know yet!" the woman staring with confusion as he added, "Look, I'll need some time to think about this. Believe it or not, it took me a long time to realize I had feelings for Samantha back in the day, so..."

"Oh, okay," Cindy replied with a light smile, "I guess it was a little much to expect you to just go out with me right away," Damien nodding and feeling even more nervous every second. This was just too much for him to handle.

With that, the woman got up and exited the room as Damien could not help but feel uncomfortable. What if he did ultimately decide it could not work? How would Cindy take that? But at the same time, he did not wish to have her wait for an answer either as that would be cruel. The one thing worse than being rejected was waiting forever to deal with it.

And soon enough, Cindy returned to her room as Scarlet noticed her and asked, "Oh, hey. How did it go?"

Cindy let out a light sigh as Scarlet sighed, "You got cold feet again, didn't you?" Cindy shaking her head and saying, "Actually, I'm not sure how this is going to turn out. I confessed but Damien said he needed time to think it over."

"Oh, okay, so he does know," Scarlet replied with a shrug, "I guess I should have seen that coming. I mean, you have only known each-other for a tad more than a week."

"Well, I'll wait as long as I have to," Cindy replied, "If I'm impatient, he might find that annoying and unattractive," Scarlet nodding and replying, "Good thinking. Though I'd personally give up after a week, but hey, I've never been a relationship before."

Cindy giggled as Scarlet sighed, "Though there is something I've been neglecting to tell you. If he refuses, be respectful of his decision and don't make him feel like the bad guy. Trust me, if you can't handle rejection, you're not ready to start dating."

"Okay," Cindy replied with a nod, "Do you know this from experience?" Scarlet's cheeks turning bright pink, steam rising up from her head and retorted, "No! Of course not! I never asked James out in high school!"

"Oh my goodness, you were into James!?" Cindy squeaked as the redhead got up and sped out of the room to have her night time shower early.

And soon it was time for bed as Damien had trouble sleeping for once. Matt noticed this and asked, "Dude, what's up with you?"

"Matt, have you ever been asked out before?" Damien asked as the orange-haired man blinked and replied, "You mean, like, on a date? Because no, I haven't."

"Oh, so you can't help me," the man replied as Matt blinked and exclaimed, "Get out! One of our women asked you out!? Or was it a phone call from a secret admirer?" before winking.

"It's Cindy," Damien replied as Matt's eyes widened, the orange-haired man saying, "Wow, I had my suspicions, but I didn't think it was actually true."

With that, Matt sat upright in his bed and asked, "So, what did you say?" Damien sighing, "I told her I wasn't sure yet and she was fine with that. The problem is, I really don't know if I have feelings for her. It's just, if I start dating again, I want it to be with someone I know I'd want to spend my life with."

"Wow, you've actually dated before?" Matt replied before shaking his head and saying, "Well, most guys would probably tell you to go for it, but I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea. My only advice is to do what your heart tells you. If you discover that you truly have feelings for Cindy, go for it. Otherwise, tell her no, but let her off easy."

Damien nodded as Matt came close to his ear and whispered, "Cindy's really sensitive," the black-haired man rolling his eyes and replying, "Believe me, I know."

And with that, Damien eventually managed to get to sleep. Hopefully he would be able to get enough so he could work tomorrow if needed. This was certainly going to eat away at him for a while.

The following morning was not much better. Damien had woken up extra early as he rubbed his eyes and decided to go for a walk before breakfast. But while doing so, he looked around to make sure Cindy was nowhere nearby. He was not sure if he could face her before coming up with an answer.

However, this would not be so easy as when he turned a corner, he found himself face-to-face with Scarlet, which was almost as bad. The man stared silently, wondering if the redhead even knew as she blinked and said, "Morning, Damien."

"Good morning, Scarlet," the black-haired man replied with his usual expression, "You're up earlier than usual."

"You too," Scarlet replied with a light smile as both laughed nervously, the redhead asking, "Would you like to walk with me? We could just talk along the way."

Damien felt it might be rude not to agree to this as he replied, "Sure," with a shrug of his shoulders. And with that, the two were walking the halls while the man hoped that Scarlet would not bring up anything related to Cindy.

But before they could even start a conversation, Morgan walked by and said, "Oh, good morning, Damien. You're up early."

Damien nodded as the woman added, "This is very convenient for me because I have an assignment for you," the man groaning, "Right now?"

"Oh no," Morgan remarked, "It's too early for that. It's not urgent. I just want you and Cindy to go to the rainforest and extract some oil. A well was discovered recently and I wanna take advantage of it."

"Wait, you want me to go with Cindy?" Damien asked as the general nodded and replied, "Yep, but tell her when you see her next."

Damien was now a tad scared as Scarlet could see it in his expression, which was odd considering how little he was able to change it. And with that, the redhead volunteered to spread the news and save Damien the trouble.

Once Morgan went off on her way, Scarlet looked at Damien with concern. She had no idea Cindy's confession would leave him in a state like this. He did not even want the see the pink-haired woman right now. But even so, the redhead said nothing as she did not wish to make things any more awkward than they already were.

During this time, Katherine was busy preparing a confession of love to Drake when Glen called her and her roommate, Katie, to the office. The blue-haired woman let out a sigh and noticed Katie was still asleep. As such, she pushed on her shoulder to wake her up and thus the two were off.

Once in the office, Katie groaned, "What do you want? I was still asleep," Glen replying, "We've discovered an oil well in the rainforest. I'd like to get my hands on that before those Crystal City soldiers discover it, so I'd like you two to go and harvest that oil as soon as possible."

Katherine's eyes sparkled as she saw this as a chance to prove herself worthy of Drake's love. After all, she had failed not too long ago. She needed something like this. Katie, on the other hand, hardly felt ready for such a thing and wished he could have told them this after she was fully rested.

Soon enough, both teams were off to the rainforest as Damien felt awkward flying near Cindy. The pink-haired woman, all the while, stayed silent. She knew that if she brought up her question, she would come off as desperate and she did not wish to put any sort of pressure on the man.

"So, any idea where this oil might be?" Damien asked as Cindy shook her head and replied, "No," the two trying desperately to focus on different topics.

However, Cindy realized that perhaps she could break the silence if she told Damien that she would be okay with whatever answer he gave her. Maybe then he would not feel scared to say what he had to say. But just as she was about to do so, the two heard two other mechs nearby. There was of course Katherine's aquamarine mech, but there was also Katie's, which was snow white with black spots along its body, very much like that of a panda. While Katherine's had thirty-two hundred vitality, Katie's had twenty-eight hundred.

"Oh god, please tell me you found it!" Katie groaned as Katherine sighed, "It's kind of a shame you can't have coffee otherwise it would have been a good idea for you to bring some," the white-haired woman blinking and uttering, "Oh, right. I brought coffee with me."

The woman then held up a cup while Damien turned to Cindy and asked, "Do you feel ready for this?" the pink-haired woman nodding while saying nothing. Even in the face of danger, it was hard for her not to think about her confession and how awkward things had become.

However, before the two could engage the woman in battle, Katherine could hear them as she exclaimed, "Katie, be on high alert! We're under attack!" the white-haired woman turning to face their mechs as she gulped and groaned, "Oh, come on, right now!?"

With that, both women hit the big red button before Damien and Cindy could even respond, the mechs all saying, "Two-on-two battle engaged," Katherine and Katie's mechs unleashing their orbs and forming the transparent sphere around all four mechs.

And to top it off, Katie ended up going first as she groaned, "Oh, come on! Can't I rest my eyes first!?" Katherine sighing, "We're having a duel right now. Can this wait?"

With that, the white-haired woman nodded her head and let out a yawn, looking over her hand. However, due to her fatigue, she was having a bit of trouble making out which cards she had. She had two trap cards but could not make heads or tails out of which one was which and as such, she did not even bother to set them as she instead summoned a female magician with blue hair named 'Amazoness Sage'.

"What are you doing!?" Katherine snapped as Katie blinked and asked, "Wait, what do you-?" before looking at her monster zone and groaning, "Oh god, I just summoned a weak monster in attack mode."

"Wow, this might be super easy, right, Damien?" Cindy asked with a light smile as Damien shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah, you're right about that."

Unfortunately, as serious as this situation was, even those two were rather distracted by what had happened recently. Even so, Katie's turn ended with the white-haired woman banging her head against the dashboard while Damien's turn was next.

However, Katie did not seem to care as she dozed off and decided to rest while waiting for the other turns to end. It seemed she had forgotten about the fact that Damien could now attack her.

Damien took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, concentrate! This is a serious duel! You want to win!' the man looking over his cards carefully when he noticed two very good moves he could make.

With that in mind, the man placed one card face-down in his spell zone and summoned a young man dressed in a white outfit with a spike on the top. His name was 'Elemental Hero Neos Alius' and he had an attack power of nineteen hundred.

"Oh god no," Katherine groaned as she sighed, "You could have avoided taking in damage this turn, Katie," only for the white-haired woman not to hear her as she was still asleep.

And it seemed she would get a few more seconds of rest as Damien hesitated to attack, Cindy asking, "Damien, you are going to attack, right?" the man nodding his head and replying, "Right," before initiating an attack.

With that, Neos charged toward Sage before sending a hard punch into her face. The woman coughed up blood and fell hard on her back as she sank into the ground, the hero sending another punch to Katie's mech. This caused the mech to rattle a bit as Katie opened her eyes, her vitality going down to twenty-three hundred.

Damien's turn came to a close as he was not even sure how to feel. He knew he should have been thrilled to get such a nice early lead, but right now, he was too distracted by other things.

Katherine, on the other hand, was irritated as she had her mech smack Katie's on the back of the head, exclaiming, "Stay awake, please! I don't want your vitality to reach zero just because you didn't get a full night's sleep!"

Katie nodded and yawned, "Alright, I'll do my best," smacking her lips before dozing off again. She figured at least if she rested her eyes long enough, she might have the strength to focus on her next turn.

Luckily, Katie might not even need to do a thing as Katherine saw a perfect tactic she could use. With that in mind, the woman grinned wickedly and summoned a blue kappa with long blond hair and a purple beak. This was 'Hyosube' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

"Now who's not paying attention?" Damien asked tauntingly as Katherine frowned and remarked, "You won't be so smug after my next move."

The blue-haired woman activated her Aqua Jet as a big boat motor appeared and latched itself onto Hyosube's shell. This brought his attack power up to twenty-five hundred as both Cindy and Damien were terrified now. There was no doubt that this was definitely bad news for them.

However, Damien then remembered his trap and thought, 'Wait, this is perfect. Now my trap will be even more effective.'

With that, the man placed his hand against the card and readied himself to flip it over as Katherine launched her attack. The kappa ran toward Neos and readied a karate chop.

But just as Damien was about to flip his trap over, another thought came to mind. He suddenly imagined himself face-to-face with Cindy and rejecting her, the pink-haired woman breaking out into heavy tears while the man felt a great sense of guilt. And unfortunately, by the time he snapped back to reality, it was already too late as Neos had taken in the chop, falling hard on his back while Hyosube struck his mech, his vitality reduced to thirty-four hundred.

"Alright, that oughta do it," Katherine said with a grin as Katie was still sound asleep, Cindy's turn now starting.

The woman had to admit that she was a little nervous now, and her next card did not help very much. She had an equip spell to make any of her monsters stronger, but none of them were powerful enough for this to really help.

The woman simply placed a trap face-down and summoned a monster in defence mode. And with that, she ended her turn and hoped Damien would have something better.

Katie was up next as she was still sound asleep, Katherine asking, "Are you ready, Katie?"

When she received no response, the blue-haired woman had her mech grab hold of her friend's and shook it while barking, "Hey, Earth to Katie!" the white-haired woman waking up completely as she blinked and uttered, "No thanks, Mom. French Toast will make me fat."

Damien and Cindy stared with confusion as Katherine sighed, Katie saying, "Sorry, I'll get back on track now."

But as she drew her next card, she still had trouble making out the images. It seemed that minute of sleep had not done much for her. But just as she was about to make another rash move, she suddenly remembered a certain Styrofoam cup located right next to her.

"Oh, right, I was just about to drink my coffee," Katie uttered in an ominous tone as she slowly reached over and grabbed it. With that, the woman placed the hole on the lid up to her mouth and gulped down the beverage, her eyeballs going wide as her pupils seemed to shrink.

"Um, Katie, it's still your move," Katherine uttered as she could her maniacal chuckling from inside the white mech. Soon, that chuckle turned into laughter, Katherine uttering, "Oh no, you didn't drink coffee, did you?" as Katie had a big grin on her face, the woman laughing uncontrollably while shouting, "ALRIGHT! IT'S A GOOD DAY TO DIE! TIME FOR YOU TO SUFFER, CRYSTAL CITY TRASH!"

"What just happened?" Damien asked as Katie proceeded to place her trap cards face-down and summoned a tan-coloured woman with spiky red hair and a very revealing blue outfit. Her name was 'Amazoness Swords Woman' and she had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

With that, the woman charged toward Cindy's defending monster as the pink-haired woman took a deep breath, her monster revealed to be a metal soldier weilding a thin sword and two machine gun barrels on its left hand. It also had a build similar to that of an old English soldier and was named 'Robotic Knight'.

While its attack power was sixteen hundred, its defence power was eighteen hundred. As such, the swords woman was unable to destroy it as Cindy breathed a sigh of relief. However, that relief turned to bewilderment when a shock wave came from the monster and struck the pink mech, bringing its vitality down to two thousand.

"What just happened?" Damien asked as Katie explained in a high-pitched tone, "OH, IT'S ACTUALLY QUITE AMAZING, REALLY! YOU SEE, WHEN AMAZONESS SWORDS WOMAN IS ENGAGED IN BATTLE, ANY DAMAGE I WOULD TAKE FROM A RESULT OF THE ATTACK IS INSTEAD INFLICTED TO MY OPPONENT!"

Katherine nodded her head and said, "Smart thinking," before sighing, "Just promise me you'll calm down soon. You scare me when you get like this."

However, this was not the end as Katie then proceeded to aim her mech's weapon, a spear to be exact, at Damien's mech. Since he had no monsters at the beginning of the turn, it only made sense that she could now do this as she jabbed the spearhead into its chest, bringing its vitality down to twenty-nine hundred.

But it did not even end there as during Katie's end phase, the woman proceeded to reveal one of her trap cards. It was called 'Amazoness Willpower' and it allowed her to bring back her Sage from the graveyard, the magician standing tall and proud.

"AMAZONESS WILLPOWER IS ALSO PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, BUT IT DOES COME AT A COST!" Katie explained, "IT ALLOWS ME TO REVIVE ONE OF MY AMAZONESS MONSTERS, BUT THE DOWNSIDE IS I CAN'T CHANGE HER POSITION AND SHE HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO ATTACK DURING BATTLE PHASES!"

'Kind of like my ninjas,' Damien thought as Katie's turn came to a close, the man drawing his next card.

He then noticed a very good move he could use now as the monster he had drawn was 'Lion Alligator', a reptile with nineteen hundred attack points. This did not seem enough to deal with Katherine's Hyosube, but it would be when he activated his spell card, 'Rush Recklessly'.

But just as the man was about to summon it, the thought of Cindy crying once again entered his mind as he instead shifted his hand over to another monster and summoned that in attack mode instead. Cindy squeaked in panic as Katherine laughed and asked, "What's that supposed to do!?"

And this was certainly a good question as the monster he had summoned was a two-legged elephant with claws on its hands and god-like garments. This was 'The Fabled Ganashia' and had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

'Dammit!' Damien thought with a low growl, 'Okay, keep you head in the game. You can still make use of this.'

With that in mind, Damien had his elephant march over to Katie's Amazoness Sage and pierce her shoulders with his tusks. He then proceeded to race forward and ram the tips into Katie's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-one hundred. The elephant ended his move by flinging the sage off of his tusks as her body sank into the ground.

Katherine let out a sigh as Katie exclaimed, "WOW, THAT WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY SMART! YOU KNEW MY SWORDS WOMAN WOULD DAMAGE YOU, SO YOU ATTACKED MY SAGE INSTEAD!" Damien sighing, "Yes, that is, in fact, what I did."

However, even with this in mind, Damien had put himself in a rather tough spot. He may have dealt damage, but with his monster being so weak, he was going to take in much more when Katherine inevitably attacked him. And all of this was because he was too distracted to come up with a really good strategy.


	18. Chapter 18

Things were not looking good as now Katie was wide awake and Katherine's Hyosube was far too powerful for any of Damien and Cindy's monsters to destroy. And to make matters worse, Damien easily could have dealt with the kappa on his last turn, but he was too distracted by Cindy's confession last night to go through with it.

Katherine drew herself a new card now that it was her turn and grinned, saying, "Well, you've at least pulled off a couple of decent moves, but your luck's run out."

With that, the blue-haired woman proceeded to summon a Drill Barnacle as Damien blinked and asked, "Is that it?" Katherine remarking, "Oh no, this monster's got a much better effect."

The barnacle let loose an onslaught of drills from its openings as they soared over Ganashia and hit Damien's mech hard, bringing his vitality down to thirty-one hundred. To make matters worse, its attack power rose to thirteen hundred as Damien was a tad alarmed.

"A direct attack and an attack boost," the man uttered, "Just great," Hyosube preparing an attack of his own, racing toward Ganashia.

'Alright, now I'm going to use it,' Damien thought as once again, the thought of Cindy crying came to his mind. And with that, the man ended up forgetting about his trap just long enough for the elephant to take a hard karate chop to the face, falling hard on his back as he sunk into the ground.

The kappa then proceeded to strike Damien's mech in the neck as its vitality was reduced to twenty-two hundred, the man cursing, "Dammit, not again!"

'Again?' Cindy thought as Katherine's turn came to a close, the woman smirking and saying, "You should have thought twice before summoning such a weak monster," Damien gritting his teeth and retorting, "I was actually going to summon a stronger one!"

Now his pink-haired friend was even more concerned and whimpered, "Is something wrong?"

Damien did not wish to worry her. As such, he let out a sigh and fibbed, "No, there's nothing wrong. Don't worry about it, okay? I just didn't have anything better to use, that's all."

Though going by what he said earlier, Cindy knew something was up and was sure it was linked to her. But before she could say anything, Katie spat, "HEY, IT'S YOUR TURN! GO, GO, GO! I WANNA GO SOON!"

Cindy nodded and uttered, "Okay, be patient," before drawing her next card and smiling wide. She could not believe her good fortune. She had drawn a very powerful monster and to make it even better, she had the perfect set-up to use it.

With that in mind, Cindy proceeded to sacrifice her Robotic Knight in order to summon an alligator clad in red armour with big bat-like wings coming out of his back. This was 'Cyber-Tech Alligator' and he had an attack power of twenty-five hundred.

Katherine's eyes went wide as she uttered, "No..." Cindy adding to his power by equipping him with a spell called 'Black Pendant', a small trinket with a black diamond binding itself to his wrist. As such, his attack power rose to three thousand as he let out a fierce battle cry.

Katie's eyes and mouth were wide open as she exclaimed, "WOW! THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED!" Katherine sighing, "Please tell me your coffee high isn't gonna last much longer."

With that, Cyber-Tech Gator flew toward Hyosube and slashed him down the middle with his claws, the kappa falling hard on his back and singing into the ground. The alligator then proceeded to strike Katherine's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-seven hundred.

And on that note, Cindy's turn came to a close as she took a deep breath and smiled sweetly at Damien. Of course, the man could not see this, but he had a feeling she was doing that when her mech turned its head toward his. This only made him feel more awkward.

However, this thought would have to wait as it was Katie's turn, the white-haired woman laughing insanely while shouting, "WELL, YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT THE DROP ON US, BUT YOU DON'T! MY NEXT CARD IS GOING TO ROCK YOUR SOCKS!"

Katherine slapped both her palms against her face and shook her head while her friend sacrificed her Swords Woman in exchange for another woman with a bigger sword. This woman had long blue hair and sat on a throne. As soon as she realized she was in attack mode, her eyes went wide as she rose to her feet and held her sword up threateningly.

The others stared silently as Katherine said, "That's definitely an improvement, but that's not good enough to beat that alligator," Katie remarking, "YOU'VE ONLY SEEN A SMALL PREVIEW OF WHAT'S YET TO COME!"

With that, the woman slapped down her own copy of Rush Recklessly. But just as she was about to have her monster attack, Cindy revealed her own trap, 'Magic Jammer'. With that, she discarded one card from her hand thus negating the spell and destroying it.

Katie blinked and exclaimed in a slightly quieter tone, "Oh yeah!? Well I got a better card for this situation!" her eyelids starting to drop as she activated an equip spell called 'Axe of Despair'.

An axe formed on the queen's free hand as she grinned, her attack power rising to thirty-four hundred. Katherine took a deep breath and said, "Wow, you actually had a backup plan. Good job."

However, Damien knew that he would need to play his trap. But before he could even reach for it, a new thought entered his mind and that was him being a bad boyfriend for Cindy. He envisioned the woman trying to get him to do all sorts of things she enjoyed only for him to constantly tell her he was not interested or that he could not do it.

And once again, by the time he snapped back to reality, it was too late as Amazoness Queen used both of her weapons in an X formation to slice open Cyber-Tech Alligator's armour. And with that, she had her sword slice him in half as his corpse decayed, the woman then striking Cindy's mech as her vitality went down to sixteen hundred.

However, there was an upside to this as when the alligator was sent to the graveyard, the pendant he had been wearing floated briefly and sent a dark beam into Katie's mech, bringing her vitality down to sixteen hundred as well. And with that, the Black Pendant shattered and was sent to the graveyard to join Cyber-Tech Alligator.

"I almost forgot about that," Cindy uttered as Katie's coffee high seemed to ware off. And to make matters worse, she was even more tired than before as she uttered, "Well, we're gonna win for sure now. Nighty night," the woman dozing off as Katherine and her mech both face-palmed.

With that, it was Damien's turn as he gulped and drew his next card. However, most of the cards in his hand were no longer as helpful as they could have been prior to all of this. Now his Lion Alligator was practically useless as he could destroy Drill Barnacle but not much else. And from what he could recall, allies in team duels could send attack position monsters to take in attacks for their teammates, so what was stopping Katie from doing just that? Even if he remembered to play Rush Recklessly, it would not make much of a difference.

Cindy could tell something was wrong as she had her mech rest a hand on his mech's shoulder. The man turned to her as she sighed, "Damien, I should have said this earlier. I figured maybe I should save this until the end of the duel, but I have to tell you something. If you feel that it can't work between us, that's okay. I promise I won't get upset."

"Wait, what?" Katherine asked, her eyes widening, "For god's sake, you do NOT say that when asking someone out! It makes you sound uninterested!"

"Only when it's someone you don't know personally," Damien remarked, and though no one could see it, a light grin formed on his face as he added, "Thanks, Cindy. I'll admit, I've been distracted by that very thought throughout this entire duel. Now I feel like I can truly focus."

Now that he had all of his focus put into the duel, he noticed the card he was drawn was 'Rising Energy'. This combined with Rush Recklessly could make for the ultimate weapon, and right now, his top priority was to deal with Amazoness Queen. With that in mind, the man placed his trap face-down and noticed something else in his hand, a spell by the name of 'Parallel World Fusion'. If he had two parts of an elemental hero fusion in the graveyard, he could return them to his deck and summon the fusion monster in question.

One such monster required both a hero and a light type monster, and luckily for him, Ganashia was a light type.

With that in mind, the man placed the card into his spell zone, Katherine's eyes widening as both Ganashia and Neos rose up from the ground. With that, the two swirled around each-other as a bright light shone, a new hero taking their place.

This man had a big sun symbol floating behind him and was dressed in a white outfit with a red gem in the middle of its face. This was 'Elemental Hero The Shining' and he had an attack power of twenty-six hundred.

"Oh, come on!" Katherine groaned, "How long was he able to do that!?" Damien remarking, "Since you destroyed Ganashia?" the man shrugging his shoulders.

Even so, the woman took a deep breath and said, "Oh well, he's still weaker than Amazoness Queen," Damien remarking, "Not for long."

With that, the man summoned Lion Alligator for he had still not made a normal summon yet and initiated an attack as Shining held out his hands, his sun emblem pointing its golden spikes at the queen. But just as he was about to open fire, Damien revealed Rising Energy. And at the cost of just one card from his hand, he managed to bring Shining's attack up to thirty-nine hundred. But it did not end there as he also activated Rush Recklessly, bringing the hero's power up to forty-six hundred.

Shining fired a beam of light from all of the sun's spikes combined, the beam hitting Amazoness Queen hard as her body disintegrated. The beam then hit Katie's mech, the woman waking up as her vitality went down to zero.

Now Katie was fully awake when she noticed her mech sputtering, the woman quickly equipping her jet pack and propelling herself out of the seat in time to save herself. Unfortunately, she was too tired to turn on the pack as Katherine grabbed hold of her and brought the woman into her cockpit, Katie now passed out on the floor.

The blue-haired woman was now terrified as she could not imagine beating these two alone. And that possibility looked even less likely when Damien proceeded to have his Lion Alligator crawl toward Drill Barnacle. Katherine's eyes were wide open as the reptile opened its mouth wide, closing it jaws hard on the barnacle and grinding it to pieces.

He then ended his move by biting into Katherine's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-one hundred. Needless to say, she would need a miracle and fast as this could possibly end up being her last turn.

However, as luck would have it, the card she drew next was just what she needed. Her eyes widened at the sight of 'Turtle Oath' as she grinned and thought, 'Yes! I can still win this!'

And even more fortunate was that she had both a level five and level three monster in her hand, making a total of eight stars. This meant she could summon her Crab Turtle without any problems.

With that, the woman placed the card in the spell zone as Cindy squeaked in panic, Damien saying, "This doesn't look good."

The big turtle shell took form as Katherine's two monsters, one being a penguin and the other being a ghostly ship, were pulled into it by chains. With that, the shell opened up to reveal her Crab Turtle, the monster looking more menacing than before.

"This time my monster's power won't be used against me!" Katherine exclaimed with a grin as Damien said, "Impressive, but it's still too weak to beat my hero."

"Not so fast," the woman remarked as she summoned a red starfish with one eye. This was 'Star Boy', and while his attack was only five hundred and fifty, his special effect increased the attack power of all water type monsters by five hundred including himself.

"That's not good," Damien uttered as Crab Turtle now had three thousand and fifty attack points, Star Boy's power rising to eleven hundred and fifty.

"Now you're gonna pay!" the woman exclaimed as Damien suddenly remembered the trap he had forgotten to use twice in a row. Now was the perfect opportunity for him to use it as he said, "Sorry to disappoint, but your monster's power is gonna be used against you."

With that, the man revealed his trap to be 'Magic Cylinder', Katherine's eyes and mouth wide open as she uttered, "You mean I could have fallen victim to that much sooner?"

Two cylinders appeared as Crab Turtle was sucked into one and launched out the other. With that, his eye started to spin as the trap had disoriented him, the crab ramming his claws into Katherine's mech.

The woman let down a light tear as her vitality went down to zero. She then took hold of her sleeping friend and propelled herself out of her mech, starting up her jet pack and taking off. She could not believe it. As if having an amateur do that was not bad enough, to have someone wait until the last minute to pull that stunt when he could have used it earlier was even more humiliating.

Damien breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That was annoying," Cindy smiling bright and squealing, "We did it!"

And with all said and the done, the two eventually found the oil and filled their tankers with it as Damien said, "Hey, Cindy, I've made a decision now."

"Oh, okay," the woman replied, "So, what is it?" Damien about to answer when he blinked and asked, "You're sure you can handle any answer I give you, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cindy replied, her cheeks flushed pink, Damien taking a deep breath.

"Cindy, you're a very nice person," the man stated, "In fact, you're the first real friend I've had in ages. You've come a long way and even helped me learn to work in a team to a certain degree. But ultimately, I only see you as a good friend and nothing more. I just don't feel like a romantic relationship between us would work."

Cindy was silent for a few seconds as Damien asked, "You okay?" only for the woman to smile bright and reply, "I'm perfectly fine. I'm just glad I had the courage to ask."

"Yeah, but don't lose hope," Damien replied, "I'm sure there is someone for you waiting out there. Just keep looking."

And with that, the two returned to the base. Naturally, Morgan was more than happy to see them come back with full tankers as they were now free to take it easy for the rest of the day.

Scarlet and Matt had returned not too long ago and were talking while wandering the halls when they noticed Damien and Cindy standing side-by-side. Seeing this, Scarlet smiled lightly and whispered, "So, you think they hit it off?"

"Looks like a definite 'yes' to me," Matt replied as Damien blinked and asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Matt replied with an innocent look, the man shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Well, see you later, Cindy. I need to rest up after all that."

"Me too," the pink-haired woman replied with a nod, "Maybe when we're well rested, we can go for a swim," Damien shrugging his replying, "I'm only going if Scarlet goes."

"Me?" the redhead asked as Damien replied, "Yeah, you're able to teach me stuff about swimming," Scarlet nodding and saying, "Oh yeah. That does make sense," Matt grinning and saying, "I'll be able to join you this time."

With all said and done, Damien and Cindy got a well deserved rest while Scarlet and Matt decided to ask their roommates how things went. However, both were rather surprised to hear that Damien had refused. Even so, Scarlet was glad to hear that Cindy was taking it well and Matt was just happy that Damien took his advice and let her off easy.

Katherine, on the other hand, could not have been more annoyed after returning to the base. Katie had finally taken that extra hour of sleep she needed and apologized dearly for messing things up so badly.

The blue-haired woman took a deep breath and replied, "You know, it's not completely your fault. When you were on that coffee high, you really did the absolute best you could. I'm just glad you're well rested now."

Katie smiled as the two girls gave each-other a hug. However, that came to a halt when Drake walked by, Katherine's eyes turning into hearts as she sighed, "Someday, my love. Someday."

"Didn't the general give you some advice recently?" Katie asked, "Why not use it?"

Katherine's eyes went wide as she said, "You know what? Maybe I should."

It was at that exact moment that Drake turned the corner, Katherine running over to him and saying, "Hi, Drake. Nice day, isn't it?" the blue-haired man nodding and asking, "Hey, you just came back from a mission, right? How did it go?"

'He's wondering how I did?' Katherine thought before shrugging her shoulders and replying, "Well, we did fail, but we came very close."

"I commend you for taking it so well," Drake replied with a nod before heading off, the woman squealing, "He gave me a compliment!" Katie rolling her eyes.

And with that, the day had been successful for Crystal City. Cindy and Damien's minds were finally at ease and they had succeeded in their mission. And currently, the group was celebrating with a nice swim.

Damien had finally started to get the leg movements down and was able to stay afloat in one spot while Scarlet gave him a light smile and said, "Good job. Now we can move onto the doggie paddle."

Damien blushed lightly and replied, "I have to thank you for this. I didn't think I'd ever want to swim, but honestly, now that I know the basics, I actually want to swim."

Cindy, all the while, was having a splash fight with Matt as the orange-haired man asked, "So you're really okay with this?" the woman nodding and replying, "Yeah. Maybe it was too early to assume I'd found true love. I've only just started to make friends, after all."

She then watched Scarlet guide Damien through dog paddle strokes and added, "Besides, I think I know someone else who's just perfect for him," Matt blinking before nodding his head.


	19. Chapter 19

It was a typical day in New Domino as Drake awoke at his usual time. Aadil noticed this and said, "Morning, man. Ready for another day of lounging around?"

The man nodded and replied, "I guess so, though I've heard today's not going to be so easy for the staff. Apparently, cores have been popping up everywhere, so Glen might be giving everyone an assignment today."

"Maybe," Aadil said with a shrug, "Say, you ever wonder what he's gathering all this stuff for? You know, spare parts and ore. I don't think I've seen any mech that's had this stuff used on it."

"Probably planning one something big," Drake replied with a shrug, "The ore's probably being used to make another bomb, but not sure what he's doing with the parts."

With that, the two carried on while Taylor was elsewhere, headed toward the cafeteria with Angela. The purple-haired woman had a big grin as she said, "I heard today's gonna be super busy. Maybe Glen will give us a really hard assignment and when I succeed, he'll be so impressed that he'll have to make me top soldier."

Angela smiled lightly and replied, "Yeah, maybe," the woman simply happy to have been working with Taylor for almost all of her missions so far.

When they entered the cafeteria, they noticed one soldier by the name of Marley handing out sheets of paper with assignments written on them. It seemed it was one of those days, the kind that was so busy that Glen could not find the time to brief everyone on their separate missions.

Soon enough, Drake received his paper as his eyes widened, the man uttering, "Oh no."

"What?" Aadil asked, "I thought no mission was too tough for-" the man looking over the paper and saying, "Oh, this is gonna be painful."

Drake had been sent to the Tanzanite Ocean, but having to search for core underwater was not the problem. The problem was that he had been paired up with Taylor for it.

Aadil then proceeded to look at his assignment paper and noticed he had been paired up with Angela. And at that exact moment, both women stood before the two. Angela looked nervous to be working with someone else for a change while Taylor looked peeved beyond compare.

"What is the meaning of this!?" the purple-haired woman snapped, "You set this up, didn't you!? This is revenge for me trying to get you in trouble that one time!"

"You tried to get him in trouble once?" Angela uttered as Taylor sighed, "You know I'm not the nicest person here."

"Look, if it were up to me, I'd have never gotten a mission with you," Drake sighed, "Let's just get this over with so we never have to think about it again."

"That I can't argue with too much," Taylor replied as Angela and Aadil stood next to each-other, the Asian woman uttering, "Um, hi."

During this time in Crystal City, Matt and Scarlet had been paired up for that same mission. Hopefully they would be able to find the core before Drake and Taylor. After all, they would end up facing New Domino's two strongest soldiers if they did.

With that, the two were off as Matt asked, "So, Scarlet, how are things with you and Cindy?" the redhead replying, "They're fine."

"Oh, okay, so Cindy isn't going through any phases since, well, you know," Matt said as Scarlet nodded and stated, "I know where you're coming from. Don't worry, she's taking the rejection really well."

Matt nodded and replied, "Okay. I ask because when I was first rejected by a girl, I was fine for the first day, but then the next day I went through one of those 'it could have worked' phases. It was even worse at school because the next day, I was giving an announcement over the intercom. Called the girl a bitch for the entire school to hear."

The orange-haired man let out a sigh as Scarlet asked, "Wait, did you go to Agate High?" Matt nodding and adding, "Yeah, I was the morning announcer, though I did lose that job when I made the previously mentioned announcement."

"Oh my god, that was you!" the redhead exclaimed before snickering, that snicker turning into hysterics as Matt narrowed his eyelids.

"I'm so sorry," Scarlet sniffed, "Cindy and I were sitting in Science class when we heard that. I think Cindy was actually terrified of you after hearing that."

Matt and his mech both had their eyes widen as he remarked, "You're not gonna tell her, are you!?" the redhead replying, "Of course not. It was high school. Oh, and, sorry for laughing. That must have been a hard time for you."

But while Matt and Scarlet were at least having a civil conversation, Drake and Taylor said nothing at all. In fact, Taylor seemed to be trying desperately to get ahead of Drake so she could get the core first. She figured if she did, Glen would recognize her as the better soldier.

Unfortunately, things took an unexpected turn when her mech was suddenly bitten by a shark. The purple-haired woman's eyes went wide as the bite brought her vitality down to two thousand. And to make this even more humiliating, Drake was the one who ultimately saved her by using his mech's blade arms.

With the shark now cut into pieces, Taylor breathed heavily as Drake asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine!" the purple-haired woman retorted in a harsh tone, "Though I could have handled that one of my own, thank you!"

Drake rolled his eyes and remarked, "Yeah, I'm sure you could have," the two carrying on when Taylor picked up a strong signal on her tracking device.

'It's close,' she thought with a smirk, 'And I'm the first to notice.'

With that in mind, the woman sped in the direction of the core only to stop dead in her tracks when she noticed a green mech and a red mech in the area, the pilots having already found and dug up the core from under the sand. Drake arrived in the area and thought, 'It's that green mech again.'

Taylor did not even notice Drake as a wicked grin formed on her face. She definitely remembered that red mech from her duel with Scarlet and Cindy. Sure, she did not know Scarlet's name, but she remembered how she and Angela had defeated her and her friend.

With that in mind, her grin widened as she said, "This is gonna be easy," Drake having his mech place a hand on her mech's shoulder and remarking, "We should take them both at once."

"Why?" Taylor asked with a smirk, "Scared you can't win on your own!" Drake narrowing his eyelids as both flew toward the two, each now determined to start a two-on-one battle. However, they both ended up getting close enough and engaging battle at the same time thus all four were caught in the same transparent sphere.

Scarlet let out a sigh a groaned, "A sneak attack? Really?" Matt replying, "Well, guess we should deal with this."

But as the two turned to face their opponents, their eyes widened. Matt trembled and uttered, "Oh no, not Drake again!" Scarlet saying, "Oh, right, I forgot you faced him that one time," the woman currently more focused on Taylor's mech.

"So, you got a different partner this time, do you?" Scarlet asked as Taylor remarked, "Yeah, so what? You got the weakling who lost to my partner without even putting up a fight."

Scarlet was worried that Matt's confidence might leave him at the sound of that, but the man actually seemed more pumped up as he retorted, "I'm no weakling and I'm not gonna lose this time! Right, Scarlet!?"

The redhead smiled lightly and nodded, saying, "Well, glad to see you're in high spirits," while thinking, 'The one in that white mech is tough and Drake is their strongest soldier. We might lose this one, but we can't give up.'

With that, all four soldiers drew their five cards as Drake was set to go first, Taylor saying, "Don't be smug about this. I'm gonna be the one who wins this duel for us."

Drake rolled his eyes and remarked, "Yeah, I'm sure you are," the man now more annoyed by her attitude than ever before.

Scarlet's eyes widened as she noticed the two did not seem to get along. Not only that, but Taylor's mech was lower in vitality than it had been when they first fought. Maybe victory would be possible this time.

Drake looked over his hand and placed two cards face-down in the spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode. With that, his turn came to a close as Taylor thought, 'Pitiful. He probably has some weakling face-down right now.'

Matt was next as he gulped and thought, 'This time, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do a good job against him.'

The man proceeded to set two traps of his own before summoning a samurai warrior in orange armour riding a blade horse with a purple mane. His name was 'Tenkabito Shien' and he had fifteen hundred attack points.

"Alright, Drake, you're gonna pay!" Matt exclaimed with a big grin, "I'm guessing your two face-down cards are traps! Well, unfortunately for you, my monster is immune to trap cards!"

Drake narrowed his eyelids as the samurai rode toward his defending monster with his sword at the ready. Drake's monster was then revealed to be a red demon covered in eyes with one big eyeball on its face aptly named 'Big Eye'. This monster only had a defence power of one thousand, so Tenkabito made quick work of the demon by slashing him down the middle, the monster falling hard on his back and sinking into the ground.

"I knew it," Taylor sighed, "Even against weaklings, you're a screw-up," Drake remarking, "Not quite. Big Eye has a special effect that helps me quite a bit."

With that, Drake looked over the top five cards in his deck and switched them around in an order that suited him. With that, he placed them back on the top of the deck as Taylor sighed, "I know what Big Eye does, and honestly, you can do so much better than that."

"You know it's your move, right?" the blue-haired man remarked as the purple-haired woman sighed, "Of course," before drawing her next card.

All the while, Matt's eyes sparkled as he said, "I actually destroyed one of his monsters this time. That makes me so happy," Scarlet laughing nervously.

Taylor ignored this and grinned wickedly, setting two traps of her own in the spell zone. She then summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn, Drake asking, "And that's supposed to be better than my move?"

"Trust me, it is," the woman remarked with a smirk as her defending monster was a mummy in red and blue bandages named 'Poison Mummy'. Not only did this monster have eighteen hundred defence points but his special ability was that when flipped over, he dealt five hundred damage to an opponent's vitality. Considering Scarlet's mech had thirty-one hundred while Matt's had twenty-nine hundred, it only stood to reason that she should go for the red mech first.

When Scarlet drew, she noticed she had no spells or traps in her hand. But she did have a good assortment of monsters with decent attack power. With that, the woman summoned a falcon made of solid white metal known as 'Cyber Falcon' with an attack power of fourteen hundred.

But just as she was about to attack, Taylor revealed one of her trap cards, one known as 'Mind Crush'. Drake blinked and asked, "Don't you think it's a little rash to play that so early?"

"Don't worry, I've seen this chick's deck in action before," the purple-haired woman remarked, Scarlet asking, "Wait, what does that trap even do? I've never seen it before."

"Well, it's simple," Taylor replied, "I name a card and if you're holding that card, you have to send it to the graveyard."

"Yeah, but if you get the card wrong, you have to discard one of your own cards," Drake remarked as Scarlet grinned and said, "He's right. That was a rash move."

"Oh, shut up," Taylor remarked, "I'm willing to bet you are holding Cyber Harpie Lady right now. Am I right?"

However, her smug attitude would soon become terror when Scarlet sighed, "If I had that in my hand, I would have used it. You're way off."

Drake rose an eyebrow and sighed, "I told you, rash decision," Taylor remarking, "Actually, I had a plan B," a wicked smirk on her face as she discarded a copy of 'Gren, Tactician of Dark World' from her hand. With that, her mech pulled out its whip and struck one of Matt's trap cards, destroying it. This was a card with the picture of a rat being consumed by a demonic clam.

"Geez, of all traps, you have Eatgaboon at the ready?" Taylor asked tauntingly, "I think I just did you a favour destroying that."

"But how?" Matt asked as the purple-haired woman explained, "It's quite simple. When Gren is discarded by an effect, I can pick one spell or trap card and have it destroyed. Though I think it was a waste to use it on such a pathetic card."

"Oh god, how do you put up with this!?" Matt exclaimed to Drake as the man shrugged and replied, "Your guess is as good as mine."

With all said and done, Scarlet wasted no time as she was about to have her falcon attack. But just as she was about to do so, Matt said, "Hold on. Attack Drake instead," the woman asking, "You sure?"

The orange-haired man nodded and replied, "I'm certain of this. Think about it. He's the powerhouse of this team. We need to take him down first, and her monster is in defence mode. She can't have it defend him."

"Not that I'd want to anyway," Taylor retorted while rolling her eyes, Drake's eyes widening as Scarlet said, "I was gonna use my weapon alone, but you have a point."

But just as she was about to do so, Taylor had a sudden change of heart and grinned wickedly, asking, "So, does that make you a chicken? I mean, you do have a lot of fowl in your deck."

"What!?" Scarlet retorted as Matt barked, "Hey, I'll have you know that Scarlet is not a coward!"

The redhead sighed and said, "I've changed my mind. I'll still have my mech attack Drake, but we need to lower their numbers. We'll take him down quicker if we face him alone."

'Oh my god, did she just come to my defence?' Drake thought with shock in his eyes, Cyber Falcon soaring toward Taylor's defending monster. However, Taylor had a look of confidence as she said, "By the way, Drake, I didn't do this for you."

This was made clear when the mummy was revealed holding its arms in front of its face. And sure enough, the falcon's beak was unable to overpower his arms as a shock wave emanated off of the mummy and hit Scarlet's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-seven hundred.

"Dammit!" Scarlet cursed, "Sorry, Matt, you clearly had the better idea!" Matt sighing, "To be fair, your tactic made sense."

And of course it did not end there as the mummy opened his mouth and released a noxious gas, adding to the damage and reducing Scarlet's vitality to twenty-two hundred. Needless to say, this had not gone well.

Taylor laughed wickedly as Drake said, "So if your monster had a weak defence power, you wouldn't have even tried that," the purple-haired woman replying, "That's right. We may be working together, but I will never accept you as my ally!"

And on that note, the woman felt no remorse when Scarlet at least dealt damage to Drake with her mech's chakram, the disc striking hit mech hard and bringing his vitality down to forty-five hundred. Sure, it was not much, but at least it was something.

Matt decided to look on the bright side as he exclaimed, "Sweet! We actually damaged New Domino's finest!" Scarlet glad he was at least in good spirits as she nodded and replied, "Yeah, it's true, isn't it?"

Drake simply took a deep breath and replied, "No matter. We can still do this," the man drawing his next card. Just as he had planned it, the card in question was the most powerful monster in his deck. Though he could not summon it right away, he was determined to make sure he would be able to pull it off.

With that in mind, the man instead chose the next best move he could as he summoned a demonic goat man with four red eyes, spiky orange hair and a robe. This was 'Infernity Archfiend' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred.

Taylor whistled in admiration and said, "So you do have some strong low-level monsters. Colour me impressed," Drake rolling his eyes as the demon pointed his hands at Tenkabito and sent a blast of dark energy into the man.

The samurai fell off of his horse and decayed while the steed tried to run for it. Unfortunately, Infernity Archfiend would not give him the satisfaction as he struck down the horse as well, the rest of his magic striking Matt's mech and bringing his vitality down to twenty-six hundred.

With that, Drake's turn came to a close as Taylor nodded and said, "Well, you do have some fight in you," as Matt put on a serious look and said, "Big deal. It's my turn now."

Unfortunately, his next draw did not mean much. It was another trap but a rather weak one called 'House of Adhesive Tape'. Even so, it was better than nothing as he placed it face-down in the spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode.

With his turn over, Taylor snickered and said tauntingly, "Oh, great use of your turn," before drawing a card of her own. Matt was now starting to feel agitated as Scarlet sighed, "Don't let her get to you. I'm sure we'll be able to do something before it's too late."

Taylor had to admit that she was a tad disappointed by her draw, but she could still make use of it. For her first move, she activated a spell called 'Dark Eruption'. A big explosion appeared next to her as a card rose up from underground and entered her mech. This was due to the fact that any dark type monster in her graveyard with fifteen hundred attack points or less could be added to her hand. Gren was pretty much all she had and that was good enough for her as she grinned and said, "Time for phase two of my master plan."

The woman then proceeded to activate a spell called 'Card Destruction', much to everyone else's dismay. Drake slowly turned his mech's head over to Taylor's and uttered, "You just sent my most powerful monster to the graveyard," Taylor remarking, "Oh, boohoo. Now I can finish this duel and not you."

And of course, the others had all the reason to be annoyed as Card Destruction forced all duellists to discard their entire hands and replace them. But when the soldiers replaced their decks, both Drake and Scarlet were actually relieved with their draws. If anything, it seemed that Taylor had unwittingly blessed them with better results, but neither of them was going to let her know that.

Though Matt was not so pleased as since Gren had been sent to the graveyard as well, he ended up losing his house. However, Taylor looked less than enthusiastic as she sighed, "Seriously, why even bother setting such useless cards?"

Even so, she was rather pleased with her draw as she said, "Oh, this is just too good," the purple-haired woman first activating a spell called 'Smashing Ground'. This destroyed whatever face-up monster the opponent controlled with the lowest defence, and since Cyber Falcon fit that description, Scarlet's eyes widened as a big fist came down and smashed the bird to pieces.

"Now for my final phase," Taylor said with a big grin as she summoned a knight clad in black armour and weilding a huge sword named 'Dark Blade' with an attack power of eighteen hundred.

"Oh no," Matt uttered as Scarlet hoped she was not the next target. Unfortunately, her assumption was wrong as the knight charged at the red mech and struck it hard, bringing its vitality down to seven hundred.

Taylor grinned and said, "I guess I could finish you off with my mummy, but I don't feel like it," Drake's eyes widening as he thought, 'Dammit, there's that arrogance again! She should know better than to give her opponent a fighting chance!'

Scarlet breathed as sigh of relief and drew her next card. It was a trap and thus she wasted no time setting it, but there was one card she had drawn earlier after banishing her hand that she knew would help her a great deal. In fact, it could very well turn the duel in their favour.

With that, the redhead smiled lightly and said, "I should thank you right now," Taylor asking, "What?" as Scarlet added, "You just helped me summon my most powerful monster."

"Is this true?" Matt asked, his eyes sparkling as Scarlet nodded and had two of her monsters rise up from the sand next to her mech. One was her Cyber Falcon and the other was a crow clad in armour named 'D. D. Crow'.

Once they rose up, the mech used its chakram to slice both of them in half as they were removed from the graveyard, meaning they were officially removed from play. Matt grinned wide as he knew exactly what was coming, Scarlet using the sacrifice to special summon a big silver bird wearing a crown named 'Dark Simorgh'. Needless to say, this monster would be hard to take down with his attack power being twenty-seven hundred.

Taylor's jaw just about hit the floor of her mech as Scarlet took a deep breath and said, "Matt, I know it would be smarter to take care of Drake, but so far, the owner of that white mech has been a much bigger pain."

"I'll consider that a compliment," Taylor replied with a grin as Matt nodded and sighed, "Yeah, it might be smarter if you go for it."

The purple-haired woman was whimpering now as Scarlet summoned another monster in defence mode and had Simorgh fly toward Dark Blade with a fierce battle cry. But just as the knight was about to be slain, Infernity Archfiend dashed in front of him as Taylor's eyes widened.

"What are you doing!?" she spat as it seemed Drake had another trick up his sleeve, the man revealing a trap called 'Bark of Dark Ruler'.

"When one of my fiends is in the midst of battle," the man explained, "I can activate this trap and lower the opposing monster's attack power by the amount of vitality I sacrifice."

With that, Drake's vitality went down to thirty-five hundred thus resulting in Simorgh having an attack power of seventeen hundred. This was just low enough for Drake's Archfiend to destroy the bird with a blast of magic, Scarlet's mech taking in damage as well as her vitality went down to six hundred.

Scarlet's eyes were wide with shock as Matt gulped in terror, Taylor sighing, "Oh, I see, if you didn't have that card-"

"Actually, I still would have taken that," Drake remarked, "You have far less vitality than I do."

"I don't need your charity!" the purple-haired woman retorted as the blue-haired man sighed, "Look, you might not consider me an ally, but right now, I just want to accomplish this mission. As such, I will do everything I can to make sure we're both able to continue."

Taylor's eyes widened as Scarlet's turn came to a close, the redhead sighing, "Oh well, at least I still have something protecting me."

"That won't last long," Drake remarked as he drew his next card and added, "By the way, Taylor, I know this might upset you, but you just helped me when you played 'Card Destruction' last turn."

The purple-haired woman was truly shocked to hear this as the man activated 'Gravekeeper's Servant'. With that, a big hole opened up in the sand as the monster Drake was planning to use earlier rose up from the dead, Taylor's eyes going even wider.

The monster in question was a black pot with wings and a metal tail. With a rather menacing human-like face, this was 'Darklord Superbia' and he had an attack power of twenty-nine hundred.

"You had that in your deck all this time?" Taylor asked as Drake nodded and explained, "When he's special summoned from the graveyard, I can pick another fairy type monster and summon it. Unfortunately, my other fairy isn't in my graveyard, but he is in my hand and I can summon him."

With that, the man sacrificed his Infernity Archfiend in exchange for a blue demon with horns and black armour. This was 'Darklord Edeh Arae' and he had an attack power of twenty-three hundred.

"You have another Darklord in your deck!?" Taylor exclaimed as Matt gulped, "I've never seen these before, but I don't like this one bit."

As if that was not enough, Drake proceeded to cast his field spell 'Yami' thus covering the entire sphere in a black fog. This rose the attack power of every dark type monster by two hundred as he had both of his monsters take care of the defending monsters.

Matt's monster was a robotic samurai with a blue ponytail and battle outfit named 'Sasuke Samurai number three'. Meanwhile, Scarlet's was an angelic man named 'Shining Angel'. Both were, of course, far weaker in terms of defence and, as such, were taken care of easily.

However, Scarlet at least had some good fortune as Shining Angel allowed her to special summon a light type monster from her deck with fifteen hundred attack or less. With that in mind, the redhead chose a blue fighter jet known as 'W-Wing Catapult' and placed it in defence mode.

"Sometimes I forget you have more than just birds in your deck," Matt said as Scarlet sighed, "It still might not be enough. Do you have anything that can help us?"

The orange-haired man took a deep breath and replied, "We'll see," the man drawing a card of his own.

Unfortunately, the card he drew would not be able to help at all. It was clear that defeat was inevitable as he sighed, "I hate to say it, Scarlet, but we might have to surrender," the redhead groaning, "Dammit. I was afraid you'd say that."

With that, both soldiers pressed their hands against their decks as their mechs turned and flew away from the area thanks to an emergency function. After all, there really was nothing they could do at this point.

Taylor took a deep breath as Drake picked up the core and said, "Well, we best head on back," the purple-haired woman nodding and replying, "Yeah, okay. Sure."

While flying back, Drake took a deep breath and asked, "I gotta ask you something. What is your problem with me?"

Taylor blinked as he added, "Ever since you joined the army, you've had this vendetta against me. You rubbed your victory over me in my face, you tried to get me in trouble and all this time, you've been trying to do everything by yourself."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Taylor replied as Drake blinked and asked, "Wait, did you just say you're sorry?"

"Yes," the purple-haired woman sighed, "Look, the truth is, I just wanted status. I thought if I could have your position, the world would see me as this ultimate war hero. My parents never approved of me joining the army. I figured I could prove them wrong. And when I beat you yet you still kept your title, I found that really unfair."

Drake blinked as she added, "I guess it wasn't a problem with you but a problem with the system."

"Well, at least you don't hate me personally," Drake replied, Taylor asking, "So why are you so focused on keeping your title anyway?"

"I'm doing it for my sister," the blue-haired man replied as Taylor's eyes went wide, the man explaining, "See, she's really sick right now, but in a few months, she'll get better. I joined the army not because I felt it was for me but because I wanted to end the war before she got better so she could leave the hospital and live in a more peaceful world. I figured working my way to the top would allow me to do that."

"But why specifically does it have to be you who ends the war?" Taylor asked as Drake sighed, "I want my sister to know that it was me who ended it all and brought peace to New Domino. It'll make her even happier knowing I did it."

"Wow," Taylor said with a sigh, "And I just wanted fame. You're a really good guy."

Then, much to Drake's shock, Taylor had her mech give his a hug as she whispered ominously, "Tell anyone I did that and I'll gut you in your sleep," Drake's eyes widening as he nodded his head and replied, "Understood."

And with that, the two returned to the base, feeling proud of their accomplishments today.


	20. Chapter 20

The following day was a strange one at New Domino. It started off normal enough with Drake and Aadil wandering the halls, though one major difference was that when the two saw Taylor and Angela in the hallway, it was with a smile.

As it just so happened, after learning about Drake, Taylor no longer felt resentment toward him nor did she wish to take his title away. In fact, after the two returned, they bonded and became friends. Taylor proved to be a nice person. She just did away with such feelings when she developed the mindset that she had to work for herself.

Angela, of course, was much easier to get along with. As such, it was easy for her and Aadil to get along. The two had learned plenty about one-another during their mission and also took out a couple of soldiers together. Though unlike Taylor who chose not to let it concern her, the African boy could not help but ask where Angela's sudden change in personality during duels came from. The Asian woman had known about it for quite some time but never understood where it came from.

"So, how are you today?" Drake asked as Taylor shrugged and replied, "I'm feeling pretty good actually."

"Good morning, Aadil," Angela said in her normal soft tone as the African grinned and lifted up his hand to imply a wave.

"By the way," Taylor said, "Angela and I were thinking of making origami sculptures based off of your monsters."

"Is that do-able?" Aadil asked with his eyes wide open as Angela blushed, Taylor patting her on the shoulder and replying, "You'd better believe it! Angela's a genius with this sort of thing!"

Drake shrugged and replied, "Sounds like fun," Aadil staring wide-eyed at Angela and asking, "Could you teach me?" the Asian woman nodding with a sweet smile.

However, Katherine was not so happy as when she saw Drake acting so friendly toward Taylor, she could not help but feel paranoid. She had heard that the two of them were on good terms after their mission together and with her wanting the blue-haired man for herself, she could not help but think the love of her life had fallen for Taylor.

And in her mind, this made perfect sense. Taylor had only been in the army for a little over a week and already she had a perfect track record just like Drake used to have. Many said her skills were on the man's level and maybe even surpassed them. Meanwhile, Katherine had lost her last two duels, one of which was to a low-ranking private.

What chance did the blue-haired woman stand? Sure, Katie had assured her that Drake would not care about that sort of thing, but a part of her had trouble believing it.

'Dammit, I've been on the force much longer than her,' Katherine thought with a scowl, 'I should be better than her!'

With that, her eyes widened as another thought came to mind. Maybe if Katherine defeated Taylor in a duel, she would be truly worthy of having Drake. There was no doubt about it, she was going to challenge the woman to a practice duel with the training mechs.

However, she figured it would be smart to wait until after breakfast. That was the longest soldiers generally had to wait before getting assignments, so if there were none by that time, Katherine would be able to prove herself.

And soon enough, the soldiers were in the cafeteria for that very meal as Katie sat across with the blue-haired woman. She noticed her friends eyeing Taylor and sighing, "Okay, what's going on now?"

"That Taylor pisses me off," Katherine remarked as her friend was now concerned as she asked, "Oh my god, she didn't try to get you in trouble too, did she?"

"Oh no," Katherine replied with a sigh, "It's just, ever since their mission yesterday, she and Drake have been getting along really well."

Katie stared at her friend silently for a few seconds before asking, "How is that a bad thing?" the blue-haired woman sighing, "What I mean is that they're getting along too well."

A lot of other soldiers were certainly surprised by how friendly the two were being, so it was clear that Katherine was not alone in this. Though Katie, on the other hand, did not see this as a love connection like some of the others did.

"You're being paranoid," the white-haired woman sighed, "If you want to win Drake's heart, try and get to know him. I seriously don't think he cares about your skills as a duellist."

Katherine bit her lip and asked, "But what if he does care? Then he'll have no reason to go out with me."

"At least tell me what you're planning to do about it," Katie remarked as the blue-haired woman explained, "Look, I'm not planning to challenge Taylor to a fight, if that's what you were thinking. I was just thinking of a practice duel using the training mechs."

Katie blinked and shrugged her shoulders, saying, "Okay, that's actually a lot more civil than I was expecting. Tell me how it goes."

"Oh, I will," Katherine replied with a smirk, but it seemed like her plan might not work as Glen was starting to call people to his office for mission briefing.

But luckily for her, among the four friends, only Angela was called. The Asian woman started to panic as Taylor patted her on the shoulder and sighed, "It's okay. I'm sure you can handle this on your own."

"Don't forget, you got that other personality to help you out," Aadil added with a grin as Angela nodded and replied, "Okay. I'll try my best."

Once she exited the area, Katherine took a deep breath as she had not been called either. Though strangely enough, Katie was called to the office.

"Remember, details," the white-haired woman said as she got up and headed toward the office, Katherine replying, "Of course."

With that, the blue-haired woman put on a serious expression and marched over to the table Drake and the others were at and replaced her look with a friendly smile. The others turned to her as Drake said, "Oh, good morning, Katherine."

'He said 'good morning' to me,' she thought before saying, "Good morning to you too. Say, Taylor, I was wondering if you'd like to have a practice duel with me."

Taylor rose an eyebrow and asked, "Why?" the blue-haired woman replying, "It just seems like a fun, but I was also thinking we could use the training mechs."

"You know you'd need Glen's approval for that, right?" Aadil asked as Katherine's eyes widened, Taylor laughing and saying, "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll set this up if either of us asked for it."

She then grinned at Katherine and added, "You're right, that does sound like fun. Come on, let's go," the blue-haired woman nodding and following close behind while thinking, 'Hook, line and sinker.'

With that, the two along with Drake and Aadil headed to Glen's office as Taylor knocked on the door. The general gave them permission to enter as they did just that, the man looking up from paperwork and cupping his hands together on his desk.

"Oh, good morning," the man said, "What brings you all here?" Taylor grinning and replying, "Well, Katherine and I would like to have a practice duel with the training mechs. Can we?"

The man shrugged and replied, "Well, I'll allow it, but I'm kind of busy right now."

"It's fine, sir," Drake stated, "I know how to set it up," Katherine's eyes sparkling as Glen said, "Good. You can set them up for the practice duel."

"Wow, no one else knows how to set up the training mechs!" Katherine stated as the four left the office, "You're amazing!" as Drake shrugged and explained, "Glen taught me how to do it."

"Yeah, but that was two months ago," Aadil replied, "And you've never done it until now. I'm surprised you actually remember how to do it."

'He's so amazing!' Katherine thought, 'I'm gonna win this duel no matter what!'

Taylor noticed that the blue-haired woman had a love-struck look in her eyes. Now she could not help but feel a tad suspicious of her intentions, but even so, there was no harm in a practice duel.

With that, the group entered the training room as Taylor and Katherine boarded two mechs, Drake turning them on as he asked, "How much vitality do you want?"

"I'll go with whatever Katherine wants," Taylor replied as the blue-haired woman's eyes widened.

She had not even thought of this. She could easily request a lot of vitality or she could very well request a little bit. However, she knew there was only one amount that would truly impress Drake if she won.

"Fifty," the woman said as all went silent until Aadil asked, "Wait, you mean fifteen, as in fifteen hundred, right?"

"No, fifty!" Katherine retorted, "With only one zero! That means whichever one of us takes in damage first loses!"

"Wow, you're not holding back," Taylor said with a grin, "She's hardcore! I like her! Let her go first! She deserves it!"

"Oh no," Katherine replied in a polite tone, "You can go first," Taylor shrugging her shoulders and replying, "If you say so."

With that, both soldiers drew five cards each, Taylor adding a sixth one to her hand. However, it did not look like much. She had two strong monsters, but both were high in level. Meanwhile, the only monster she could summon had an attack power of one hundred and a defence power of three hundred.

Even so, Taylor remained calm as she set the monster in defence mode. She then placed one card face-down in the spell zone and ended her turn, Katherine taking a deep breath and drawing a sixth card of her own. This was the moment of truth. If she messed up on this turn, it was all over.

However, when she looked at her new card, her eyes widened as she could not have asked for a better draw right now. Sure, this was not great, but she just knew that if she took down Taylor's defending monster, this would likely guarantee her a victory next turn.

First she summoned the only monster in her hand that she felt was worth having in attack mode. He was a pale white man with golden armour and a dark-blue helmet and wielding two purple lances. This man's name was 'Spearfish Soldier' and he had an attack power of seventeen hundred.

"Not bad," Taylor said with a grin as Katherine stated, "That's not all!"

With that, the woman proceeded to use a spell card called 'Umiiruka'. A line of water formed along her entire monster zone as Spearfish's attack power went up to twenty-two hundred.

But just as Katherine was about to launch an attack, Taylor revealed her face-down card to be a trap called 'Threatening Roar'. Her mech unleashed a loud noise that caused Spearfish to trembled in terror as Katherine groaned. This trap prevented the opponent from being able to attack, thus the blue-haired woman had no choice but to end her turn.

'It's okay,' she thought with a look of fear in her eyes, 'She can't possibly have anything that can overpower my Spearfish. I'll be fine. I just know it.'

However, after drawing her next card, Taylor grinned and said, "It's a shame to end this so early, but this is the only thing I can do this turn."

Katherine's eyes widened as Taylor sacrificed her defending monster in exchange for a large black demon with big golden wings and an enormous axe. His name was 'Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World' and he had an attack power of twenty-three hundred.

'No,' the blue-haired woman thought, 'No! NO!'

With that, the demon readied his axe and charged at Spearfish. Once close enough, he swung his axe sideways and sliced the warrior in two, his corpse sinking into the floor as Goldd sent his axe into Katherine's mech, bringing her vitality down to zero.

The blue-haired woman's eye twitched as the mechs both powered down, Drake saying, "Well, seems you've won yourself another one, Taylor. Good job," the purple-haired woman grinning wide and exclaiming, "Yeah! That was awesome!"

Katherine could not help but feel beyond frustrated right now, but she refused to show it. Unfortunately, she was having a lot of trouble as when she exited her mech, her eye twitched by the second as she tried her hardest to maintain a friendly smile. To make matters worse, the smile looked more psychotic than anything else.

"Well, you definitely picked a good combination to start with," Taylor said with a grin, "but even then, my master deck is just too awesome."

However, she then noticed Katherine's expression and asked, "Are you okay?" Aadil saying, "Yeah, it was just a practice duel."

"I'm perfectly fine!" Katherine retorted with a force grin, "Why wouldn't I be!?" the woman then heading out of the area as Drake blinked and said, "She didn't seem okay to me."

Taylor let out a sigh and groaned, "Okay, I know I used to be a poor sport when it came to duelling, but I was nowhere near this bad," the others nodding in response while the purple-haired woman ran off to find Katherine. Normally, she would not care if one of her opponents was a poor sport, but she had a feeling poor sportsmanship was not the problem here.

"Should we follow?" Aadil asked when Taylor turned to the men and gave them a look that said 'I got this'.

Katherine leaned against a wall not too far from the training facility when Taylor found her and asked, "Hey, what's up? You act like this is the first time you've lost."

"Leave me alone," the blue-haired woman retorted as Taylor took a deep breath and asked, "Alright, be honest, why did you challenge me to a duel?"

Katherine said nothing as the purple-haired woman added, "Look, I promise I won't laugh or judge. I'm beyond that now."

"It's not that I expect you to laugh," Katherine replied, "It's that I think this would likely anger you."

"Okay, now I'm even more interested," Taylor replied with a grin, "Come on, spill the beans, girl."

Katherine took a deep breath and replied, "I'm in love with Drake," Taylor staring silently and asking, "Is that what this was about? I didn't think you facing me had anything to do with that."

"Wait, you know I'm in love with him?" Katherine asked as Taylor sighed, "You do a terrible job hiding it. Seriously, I think the only people in the army who don't know are Drake and Aadil."

Katherine's cheeks flushed pink as she uttered, "So, you don't have a problem with this?" the purple-haired woman shrugging and remarking, "Look, I may be friends with the guy now, but I have no interest in dating him, let alone dating in general. Trust me, whoever he decides to marry is none of my concern."

"Oh, okay," Katherine replied with a light smile, "I guess I can get a little too possessive of him. It's ironic because whenever I watch movies or shows, I always find myself hating the jealous girlfriend types."

"Me too," Taylor replied, "They're so annoying! It's like, for god's sake, your boyfriend can't have female friends?"

The two laughed in response to this as Taylor said, "Anyway, if you want Drake to like you, I can guarantee that being an amazing duellist is none of his concern. In fact, he couldn't care less if you were the queen of duelling. Just try to learn a little about him and tell him a few things about yourself. And if it doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world. It just means there might be someone better for you out there."

Katherine smiled bright and replied, "You know, it's funny. Katie's been trying to tell me this for so long and yet you put it far better than I think anyone else could have."

"Nah, I just used common sense," the purple-haired woman said with a shrug, "You should listen to Katie more, anyway. She is your best friend, right?" Katherine nodding and replying, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

With that, Taylor turned around to head back to the others when the blue-haired woman asked, "You're not going to tell him, are you?" Taylor shaking her head and stating, "No way. That's up to you. But don't take forever."

Katherine nodded as the other woman walked away from the area, the blue-haired woman headed back to her own room and feeling a lot better. It was especially refreshing to hear from one of Drake's friends that Katie's assumption about his preferences was correct.


	21. Chapter 21

Today seemed like a rather simple one in Crystal City as it had been another slow day. Barely anyone was being sent off on missions and thus Damien and the others decided to go for a swim. And as usual, Scarlet was giving the black-haired man lessons as he was starting to make decent progress.

"Wow, you're becoming a real natural at this," Scarlet said with a grin as Damien replied, "Well, you have helped a lot with that."

Cindy smiled sweetly at the sight of this as Matt said, "You might be right about those two. They seem to get along really fell. Also, notice that Scarlet hasn't hit Damien in quite some time."

This was made clear when Damien lost his balance briefly and tilted forward just enough for his head to wedge itself between the redhead's breasts. Shockingly, Scarlet did not get the least bit irritated as she simply propped his head out and said, "We need to work on that."

Damien let out a sigh when everyone gasped at the sight of Morgan entering the area in a rather revealing swimsuit. Since the woman was at least twice as old as most of the soldiers, most of the men in the area did their best not to stare as she folded her arms and sighed, "Oh well, may as well dazzle the masses with my amazing diving."

With that, the woman leapt into the air before performing a swan dive into the water. After a few seconds under the water, she rose up and shifted her hair left and right before taking a deep breath and swimming over to Damien.

Scarlet and Damien both stared as the man said, "Hey, ma'am. What's up?" the general replying, "I'll tell you what's up. You and Scarlet have been chosen for an assignment just now."

"What!?" Scarlet remarked as Morgan sighed, "Yeah, I just found out about it. There's a core in the Moldavite ruins, and from what I can recall, Scarlet here is the only high ranking soldier here who doesn't mind going to that place."

The redhead let out a sigh and replied, "I just don't see what all the fuss is about. It's not that dangerous," Matt remarking, "Are you kidding? They have actual demons there."

"Says the guy who enjoys going to the swamp," Scarlet remarked as Damien shrugged and replied, "Well, come on, let's get going," the two getting out of the pool and heading into the change rooms to dry off and get into their regular clothes.

While Morgan watched them go, she smiled in admiration for their commitment while Steven suddenly appeared and said, "If it means anything, I think you look sexy in that swimsuit," Morgan replying, "Why thank you, Steven, but you know you don't have to kiss up to me now that you're competent right?"

With that, Damien and Scarlet were soon flying through the ruins as Damien asked, "So, was Matt right when he said this place has demons?" Scarlet replying, "Oh yeah. It was hard to believe the first time someone reported it, but Morgan sent a team to check the place out and they confirmed it. Though the big reason people generally don't like going here is because one soldier lost of one of New Domino's and was killed before he could activate his jet pack."

"And yet you feel comfortable in this place?" Damien asked as Scarlet nodded and replied, "That's because I actually found out that the demons aren't quite as vicious as fiction would have you believe. The only reason that soldier was killed was because he provoked a nearby demon, but I've found out how to prevent them from paying attention to you."

"How's that?" Damien asked as Scarlet replied, "Step one is to not show fear in their presence and step two is to leave them be. It's so simple and yet, because of their outward appearances, people have trouble figuring that out."

"So I'm guessing the person showed a great deal of fear, then," Damien replied as Scarlet nodded and sighed, "I have explained this to the others, but it's a lot easier said than done, and I guess I can't blame them. Believe it or not, the first time I was here, I tried to kill every single one of the demons present. This results in my mech being totalled. I felt so lucky that I was able to escape on my jet pack in time."

"So when did you learn how peaceful they could be?" Damien asked as the redhead stated, "It was when I was flying along and a cerberus appeared before me. I figured maybe if I stayed still, it would think I was a statue or something. However, I noticed it had no malice in its eyes but rather it had a playful look, so I gave each of its heads a scratch behind the ears and went along my way. And I soon found out the other demons were just as friendly."

"That's amazing," Damien said, "I probably wouldn't be able to show fear, but I'd have definitely tried to kill one if I hadn't heard about this."

At that moment, the two noticed a chimera flying by as it stopped and landed next to them. Damien stared for a few seconds, feeling a tad nervous at the sight of the creature. However, Scarlet reassured him by having her mech place a hand against his mech's shoulder as he had it reach out its hand and pet the lion head.

All of the demon's heads smiled as it carried on its way, Damien taking a deep breath and sighing, "I'm not gonna lie, I was terrified for a few seconds," Scarlet replying, "And yet you remained calm."

With all said and done, the two carried on and passed by many demons along the way. Since neither showed any fear or resistance to them, they were perfectly fine. Even when a gorgon slithered by, Damien kept his cool as he knew she could only effect him by looking directly into his eyes. After all, he was completely protected by his mech right now.

"You know, I have to admit, some of these demons are pretty cute," Damien said, Scarlet asking, "You think so too? You're the only other person who's ever said that. My favourite is the manticore."

"Honestly, of all the demons I've seen," the man replied, "my favourite would have to be that chimera earlier. It's like four animals in one. That's awesome."

A light smile briefly formed on his face, but once again, Scarlet was unable to see it as she replied, "I figured you'd warm up to that one."

However, their conversation came to a close when they noticed a brown mech ahead of them with the core attached to it. However, rather than leaving with said core, the owner instead had his mech petting three cerberi. The three-headed dogs panted while the owner of the mech rubbed their bellies, a male voice coming out and saying, "Oh, aren't you just the most adorable little things?"

Damien and Scarlet were unsure of what to do. On one hand, they knew they needed that core, but on the other hand, they did not wish to disturb the cerberi. But it seemed they were too late as the pilot noticed them and got up.

"Hey, little doggies, I'm gonna be busy for the next little while," the man said, "You run along home to your mama, now."

With that, the cerberi whimpered and sprinted off as Scarlet said, "Wow, you're really good with them," the man replying, "Yeah, I've been here more than enough times. Name's Randy."

The mech itself seemed to have wrist claws as its weapons. The pilot inside, Randy, was a thin man with a decent muscle tone and short green hair.

Damien nodded and said, "The cerberi are gone. Quickly," Randy shrugging and replying, "Take as long as you want. I prefer to let my opponents go first anyway. And hey, if you both wanna fight me at once, I'm fine with that too."

Both soldiers stared blankly as Scarlet said, "You're certainly more civil than most soldiers I've met," Randy shrugging and replying, "I believe in giving my opponents a fighting chance."

"Don't think we'll go easy on you just because of this," Damien remarked as both he and Scarlet pressed the red button, the sphere forming around the group as Randy replied, "Hey, I love me a challenge, so go all-out!"

Scarlet took a deep breath and said, "Well, we do have to complete this mission," Damien nodding and replying, "That's right," as it seemed Scarlet was going first.

Randy's mech seemed rather tough as it had a vitality of thirty-eight hundred. Clearly this man must have been quite tough to have been entrusted with a mech like this, so Scarlet was not going to take him lightly.

The woman ended up drawing a spell that she could not yet find a use for. As such, she summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn. It was not much but at least it would keep her well protected.

Randy grinned and exclaimed, "Well, alright, time to get this party started!" the man summoning a monster of his own. The monster in question was a brown dinosaur with muddy water attached to its body and resembling spikes. This was 'Hydrogeddon' and it had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

Scarlet narrowed her eyelids as she knew her monster was too weak to survive the attack. But even so, she would not let this get to her as the dinosaur ran over to her monster, revealing it to be a swarm of small brown locusts known as 'Insect Soldiers of the Sky'.

Hydrogeddon simply opened its mouth and closed it down on all of them, swallowing them whole as Scarlet and Damien both stared in horror at what happened next. As if Scarlet losing a monster was not bad enough, another Hydrogeddon took form as Randy grinned and slapped his knee.

"Now I've activated my monster's effect!" he exclaimed, "You see, when Hydrogeddon destroys a monster, I can summon another one from my hand! Sorry to do this so early, but it's business!"

Scarlet's eyes and mouth were wide open as the new dinosaur proceeded to crawl over to her mech and bite into its arm. This brought the redhead's vitality down to thirteen hundred as she winced, the woman even more frightened when Randy activated a spell called 'Sebek's Blessing'.

At that moment, a two-legged alligator holding a staff appeared before his mech and fired a beam of light at it, bringing its vitality up to fifty-four hundred, Damien asking, "What just happened?"

"That's Sebek's Blessing," Randy replied with a grin, "See, when I attack my opponent directly, this spell raises my vitality by the amount of damage I dealt."

Scarlet gulped as even Damien had to admit he was a tad frightened now. As if the two monsters were not bad enough, now this man had an insanely high amount of vitality. Sure, it was not quite on the level of Bruce's mech, but it was really close.

"I'll end my turn with this little number!" Randy exclaimed as he activated another spell, this one called 'Big Evolution Pill'. With that, the mech had its claws slice up the second Hydrogeddon as its parts sank into the ground, Scarlet and Damien expecting the worst.

However, nothing happened as Damien blinked and asked, "What was that supposed to do exactly?" Randy replying, "Well, I can only activate this card at the cost of one dinosaur. See as long as it's on the field, I can summon any dinosaur monster I want without a sacrifice, meaning if I wanna summon a level five or even a level eight dinosaur on the turn I draw it, I can! Neat, huh!?"

Scarlet was now trembling in terror as she uttered, "Oh my god, I don't think we can beat this guy," Damien sighing, "No, I'm sure we can. I've dealt with some really tough opponents since I joined the army. Trust me, it's not over yet."

Scarlet nodded and sighed, "It's so funny hearing that from you," Damien having his mech shrug its shoulders.

With that, the black-haired man drew a sixth card as he noticed three particular monsters in his hand, another group that, much like his ninjas, was different from everything else he had. All of them were known as Gladiator Beasts and while each one was tough in its own right, Damien's main focus was on a paladin that Winston also had a copy of, namely 'Jain, Lightsworn Paladin'. With his attack power being eighteen hundred, it only stood to reason that this was the right move.

Even so, Damien still had a use for his Gladiator Beasts as he activated a spell called 'Gladiator Beast's Respite'. With that, a rhino clad in white armour named 'Hoplomus' and a centaur wearing blue armour named 'Equeste' came out of his hand as his mech used its machine guns to cover their bodies in holes, both monsters sinking into the ground.

"Oh, you made a spell sacrifice too?" Randy asked as Damien nodded and replied, "This spell allows me to draw three cards at the cost of two Gladiator Beasts."

All three cards he had drawn actually seemed more helpful than his beasts. Sure, they were not powerful monsters, but he had a feeling he could make more use of them. As such, he set two trap cards and then proceeded to summon Jain, the paladin standing tall and proud with his armour glimmering in the sunlight.

"Hey, Winston has a card just like that," Randy said with a grin as Damien said, "Yes, and if you haven't noticed, it's more than enough to defeat your monster."

With that, the paladin held his sword out and charged at Hydrogeddon, performing a vertical slash across the beast's back as it spread out its legs and collapsed, blood flying out of that very spot. The dinosaur sank into the ground as the paladin proceeded to strike Randy's mech, bringing his vitality down to forty-nine hundred.

Scarlet was a tad confused as Randy said, "Oh yeah, Jain's attack power goes up to twenty-one hundred during the damage step. Well, you sure showed me."

Damien narrowed his eyelids and said, "You know, Scarlet, this guy seems way too positive," the redhead sighing, "Yeah, he's treating this like a game. I mean, technically, Yu-Gi-Oh is, but war isn't."

Even so, the cost for having Jain out was that Damien had to discard the top two cards in his deck, but that was a small price to pay. And with that, Randy's turn came as the man drew his next card and had a big grin on his face.

"Who would have guessed I'd be so lucky!?" the man exclaimed as he summoned a black T-Rex with the flesh on its head seeming to rot. With an attack power of twenty-six hundred, this was 'Black Tyranno'.

Scarlet's eyes were wide open as the man activated yet another spell, this one called 'Jurassic World'. This was a field spell that rose the attack and defence of all dinosaurs by three hundred.

However, Damien was actually prepared for this as he revealed one of his traps to be 'World Suppression', Randy's eyes going wide as a bright light shot out of the card and destroyed his field spell. But rather than feeling upset, the green-haired man was impressed as he exclaimed, "Well, you got me again!"

Damien let out a sigh as the dinosaur charged toward Jain and opened his mouth wide, picking up the paladin and lifting up his head. With that, the knight went further into the dinosaur's mouth as he proceeded to chomp down on the warrior, blood dripping from the dinosaur's teeth. Tyranno finished the battle phase by chomping down on the arm of Damien's mech, bringing his vitality down to thirty-two hundred.

However, the man was prepared for this as he revealed his second trap, which was called 'Hero Signal'. With this, he was able to summon an elemental hero from either his deck of his hand, and he used this opportunity to bring out one particular monster, a light-blue fish-like man with a fin on his head and a trident in hand. His name was 'Ocean' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred, though for safety reasons, Damien had the monster in defence mode.

"Wow, you're just full of surprises!" Randy exclaimed with a big grin on his face, Damien thinking, 'Why does it bother me so much that he keeps complimenting me?'

Even with this slight improvement, Scarlet was really starting to worry now as her turn started up, the redhead slowly drawing a card. In only two turns, Randy had already proven himself insanely powerful and while Damien had managed to destroy two of his cards, this did not change the fact that their opponent already had what was likely one of his most powerful monsters out.

But when the woman drew her next card, Damien had his mech pat hers on the shoulder as he said, "Be calm, Scarlet. I have a relatively good hand right now. Just keep it together for a little while longer, okay?"

Scarlet nodded and gulped, uttering, "Okay, I trust you," the redhead feeling so useless. However, the card she had just drawn could very well help her and as such, she placed it face-down in her spell zone.

"Oh, just a little tip," Randy said with a smirk, "If the only monsters you two have out are ones in defence mode, my Black Tyranno can attack you directly," Scarlet's eyes widening as she uttered, "That means I have to summon a monster in attack mode."

Damien took a deep breath and said, "Scarlet, I'm sure whatever you have can help you. You taught me to think logically in situations like these, go with tactics over power. Now prove to me that such a strategy can actually work."

The redhead's eyes went wide as she nodded her head and replied, "You're right," a serious look taking over as she summoned a pasty-white woman with long red hair and hands like bird talons. With wings attached to her arms, this was 'Harpie Lady' and she had an attack power of thirteen hundred.

Randy was rather curious about this as Scarlet proceeded to activate a spell called 'Elegant Egotist'. Since she had one Harpie on the field already, this spell allowed her to summon a second one from her hand or her deck and she just happened to have a second one in her hand. Thus the monster was summoned in defence mode.

Randy nodded and said, "Higher numbers or not, this doesn't change the fact that both of your monsters are weak," Scarlet thinking, 'True, but if my trap works like it should, that won't matter.'

With that, the redhead's turn came to a close as Randy drew his next card, a monster to be exact, and summoned it without hesitation. The monster in question was a large dark-pink dinosaur that resembled a hippo with a horn on its snout. This was 'Kabazauls' and he had an attack power of seventeen hundred.

But just as his monsters were about to attack, Scarlet took a deep breath and flipped over her trap, revealing it to be 'The Paths of Destiny'. A large coin appeared in each mech's hand as Scarlet breathed heavily, thinking, 'I'm sorry, Damien. This is a very risky move, but it's the only way.'

"Oh, shiny!" Randy exclaimed as Scarlet explained, "It's a result of my trap's effect. We each flip a coin and if it lands on heads, the owner of the coin gains two thousand vitality. Though whoever gets tails loses that same number."

Damien stared at her but said nothing. Sure, this was a risky move, but if she had not played this, she would have guaranteed herself a loss without question.

With that, both mechs flipped their coins as Scarlet closed her eyes. Once the coin hit the ground, she slowly opened them as a light smile formed on her face. As it just so happened, the coin landed on heads. As such, her vitality went up to thirty-three hundred. And to make things even better, Randy had gotten tails as his vitality was reduced to twenty-nine hundred.

"Dang!" the man exclaimed, "That's definitely gonna hold me back a bit!" Scarlet breathing a sigh of relief as Damien had his mech gives hers thumbs up.

Even so, Scarlet would have to brace herself as Black Tyranno charged toward her Harpie in attack mode, the woman unable to defend herself as the dinosaur bit into the upper half of her body. With that, he proceeded to thrust his head up as she flew slightly above his head and ultimately fell into his open mouth, soon meeting the same fate as Jain.

To add insult to injury, the dinosaur proceeded to bite into the shoulder of Scarlet's mech as her vitality went down to twenty-one hundred. And soon enough, the second Harpie was done for when Kabazauls held her in his arms and bit her head off, soon opening his mouth wide and tossing the rest of her into it like a person tossing trash into a garbage pale.

And with that, Randy's turn ended as Scarlet thought, 'Alright, Damien, I've kept him busy. Please don't make my efforts be in vain.'

When Damien drew his next card, it seemed they finally had the advantage they needed as he had drawn 'Polymerization'. To make things better, he had another elemental hero in his hand by the name of 'Lady Heat'. He also remembered that he could fuse monsters on the field.

With that in mind, the man activated the spell as a young woman dressed in white and red spandex with orange hair spiked up in four directions appeared. A swirling vortex formed as a bright light shone, both heroes merging together to form a man covered head-to-toe in a blue outfit with various spots covered in white armour. With a long cape wrapped around his neck, his name was 'Elemental Hero Absolute Zero' and he had an attack power of twenty-five hundred.

Randy grinned and said, "You just keep on surprising me, though that monster's not quite strong enough to beat my Black Tyranno."

"He has a point," Scarlet uttered, "You used a fire monster to make that fusion happen, right? Why didn't you summon Nova Master instead?"

"Because he'll go down at the same time as Black Tyranno," Damien replied, "Besides, Absolute Zero has a much better effect, and I have the perfect monster to activate it."

With that, the man summoned a young boy in a brown cloak riding an alligator named 'The Little Swordsman of Aile'. Absolute Zero flexed his muscles as his attack power rose to three thousand, Scarlet nodding in understanding.

"You gave yourself a very good start," Damien stated, "But you were not prepared for this."

With that, Absolute Zero threw his fist forward as a gust of icy wind flew toward Black Tyranno. The dinosaur's eyes widened as his body was soon encased in ice, the wind hitting Randy's mech and bringing his vitality down to twenty-five hundred. Absolute Zero finished off the dinosaur by sending a hard kick into his midsection, his body shattering into tiny fragments.

The only downside was that his swordsman was too weak to defeat Kabazauls, but Damien was okay with that. After all, he had plenty of vitality to spare and the results had made it all worth it.

When Randy's turn came, the man slowly drew his next card and sighed, "Well, seems you two have beaten me. But I'm not giving up. I'll keep fighting to the bitter end."

With that, the green-haired man summoned a monster in defence mode and had Kabazauls devour The Little Swordsman of Aile. He then rammed his elbow into Damien's mech and brought his vitality down to twenty-three hundred and ended his turn.

Scarlet took a deep breath as she drew her next card, noticing it was her 'Cyber Harpie Lady'. With that in mind, she was just happy to actually be of use as she summoned her monster, the woman taking form and striking Kabazauls hard with her whip. The dinosaur fell hard on his back and sank into the ground, the whip then striking Randy's mech and bringing its vitality down to twenty-four hundred.

"Well, there's not much I can do now, is there?" Randy asked, still keeping up his positive attitude as he drew his next card and simply placed it in defence mode. It really seemed like he had nothing left now that his Black Tyranno was gone.

With that in mind, Damien drew his next card and summoned the one Gladiator Beast he had kept in his hand. This one was a black horse wearing orange armour named 'Darius' and he had an attack power of seventeen hundred. And Damien wasted no time having him attack one of the defending monsters, revealing it to be a rhino-like dinosaur with a blade on its snout named 'Mad Sword Beast'.

The horse sent a hard punch into the dinosaur's cheek, taking it out as Absolute Zero took down the other defending monster, a red triceratops named 'Sabersaurus', the same way he had defeated Tyranno. With that, he took a deep breath and asked, "Feel like you can finish this, Scarlet?"

"I'm not sure, but I can at least set him up for the finishing blow," the redhead replied a Randy looked back and forth between the two and drew his next card. He had actually drawn a monster that could very well have won the duel for him, but he chose not to use it and grinned, saying, "Well, I got nothing. Guess I'm screwed."

The man let out a big laugh as Damien sighed, "I told you, he's too positive," Randy all the while thinking, 'Sorry, Glen. It's just that these two deserve to win this battle.'

With that, Scarlet drew her next card and smiled saying, "Thanks, Damien. I wouldn't have gotten this chance if it weren't for you," the black-haired man shaking his head and replying, "Oh no, you've helped me out a lot more than you think you have."

Scarlet nodded and summoned a 'Whiptail Crow', the bird flying toward Randy's mech and striking it hard with his tail. This brought the man's vitality down to seven hundred and fifty. And with one more strike from Cyber Harpie Lady, the man was finished as he propelled himself out of his seat and took off on his jet pack, a big grin on his face.

"YOU GUYS ARE SOMETHING ELSE!" he exclaimed as a few demons had witnessed the duel nearby. And although the cerberi did like Randy, the fact that he was okay with his loss put their minds at ease.

And with that, Damien and Scarlet flew back toward Crystal City as Scarlet said, "You know, you're an amazing ally to have, Damien. Just think, I had to teach you all this stuff and now you're pulling off incredible strategies."

"Well, if you hadn't taught me the basics, I probably wouldn't have thought too much about that sort of thing," Damien replied with a shrug, "Besides, if you hadn't kept him busy, I wouldn't have been able to summon Absolute Zero, so thanks for that."

With that, Scarlet blushed lightly as Damien had a light smile on, the man saying, "By the way, in case you're wondering, I'm actually smiling right now," Scarlet's eyes going wide. And needless to say, the day had been successful.


	22. Chapter 22

It was an odd day in Crystal City as while it was certainly busy, it seemed the only soldiers who had not been sent on missions were Damien and his friends. For whatever reason, Morgan could not find a mission worthy of either of them and thus the four were alone to do whatever they could.

Currently, the four had decided to go for a swim while Scarlet continued to teach Damien more and more routines. And amazingly, the man was actually pulling quite a few of them off. Not only had he gotten down the dog paddle but he had even managed to do a good breaststroke. Sure, he was unable to swim quickly with it, but he was at least starting to get it.

After a while, he and Scarlet decided to have a quick break as Damien said, "Thanks for teaching me how to swim. I never knew how enjoyable it could be," the redhead giving him a light smile and replying, "It's no problem. You've been such a great help lately."

Seeing this, Matt and Cindy both had big smiled on their faces. They could see what was going on but neither Damien nor Scarlet knew what it was just yet.

With that, the group decided to find other things to do, though strangely enough, Damien wanted to be alone in his room right now. The others could not help but feel a tad confused as Matt decided to figure out what the case was. It made sense when Damien first joined the army, but nowadays, he seemed to like the company of others, so this made little sense.

While Damien rested on his bed and looked up into the air he had a bottle of Bourbon in his hands as he took a small sip of it. It was at that moment Matt entered and asked, "Hey, buddy, what's up?"

"Oh, hey," the black-haired man replied, "Just having a drink. Want some?" Matt sighing, "No, but I am a tad confused. It's rather early in the day and yet you just decided to spend time by yourself. What's going on?"

"Hey, can't I have a little me time?" Damien remarked as Matt replied, "Well, yes, but normally you wait until the evening on days like this for that. Seriously, is something wrong?"

"Matt, you know what it's like to be in love, right?" the black-haired man asked as all went silent, the orange-haired man rubbing the back of his head and replying, "Um, it depends on your definition of love. I've been infatuated many times, all of those cases being in high school, but I wouldn't call them love."

Damien let out a sigh as his friend asked, "Why do you ask?" the black-haired man replying, "Well, I've fallen for someone," his cheeks turning a light shade of red.

Matt's eyes widened as he grinned, asking, "Is it Scarlet?" Damien blinking and remarking, "How in the hell did you know that?"

"Well, there were a lot of signs pointing at it," Matt replied as Damien sighed, "Even so, I'm sure she doesn't know. It's been so long. I don't really know how to express my feelings."

"Just tell her how you feel," Matt stated with a shrug, "Trust me, you don't need to do anything over-elaborate. I get the feeling she likes you just as much but doesn't realize it yet. It might require your efforts to make it happen."

Damien took a deep breath as the orange-haired man thought about this and asked, "Can you sing?" the black-haired man replying, "I don't know. I've never actually tried before. Why does that matter?"

"It's simple," Matt replied with a grin, "If you're unsure of how to get the words out normally, write her a song and perform it. Scarlet might not seem the type who would go for that, but trust me, she is."

With that, the orange-haired man headed out of the room as Damien let out a sigh and asked himself, "Sing her a song? How do I do that?" before closing his eyes and imagining himself standing before Scarlet with a grin on his face, a look he had not sported in years.

He had a fancy suit and tie on as he made his way over to the redhead and took her hand, singing, "Scarlet, you are the fire that lights my torch and makes it burn bright! I can just tell that what I'm feeling right now is so right!"

Scarlet gasped as the man added, "Til now, I was all confused, but now I know that this is so. Take my hand and how much I love you is what I will show!"

With that, both started to dance while singing together, "When I'm near you it feels so right! You fill up my dreary days with such bright rays of light! There's no doubt that what I'm saying is really, really true and there's no telling just what we can do!"

Suddenly, the vision ended as Damien's eyes open, the man sighing, "I definitely wouldn't be able to pull that off. Besides, those lyrics are way too cheesy."

With that, the man pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen and took a deep breath, thinking hard about what he was going to write. However, each time he wrote down so much as one word, he went blank. Not only had the man not sung before in his life but coming up with lyrics was a huge challenge.

'Maybe I can do what they do in those jukebox musicals,' he thought, 'I'll take a bunch of already existing love songs and string them together. After all, I've heard a great deal of those.'

During this time, it seemed Scarlet was also alone in her room as she pulled out an MP3 player and put on some headphones that were attached to it. With that, she started playing a love song of her own and took a deep breath, singing along with the melody but coming up with her own lyrics.

"I never thought it would happen to me, but this feeling I cannot describe," the redhead sang, "He's not all that handsome and not that dignified, and yet he just seems so perfect. He's not pompous or full of pride. No other man has left me feeling so, but it makes me feel kinda bad. After all, Cindy used to love him. I hope this won't make her mad."

With that, she listened to a moment that was just music before the lyrics started up again, the woman singing, "What is it about him that makes me love him so? It's not like his manners are all that great and he's clumsy on his toes. And yet when I feel his hands against me, it makes me feel happy. I wish I could tell him but that thought scares me."

The woman then looked at the ceiling and sang, "At first he seemed distant, anti-social, perverted, but it wasn't long til I knew the truth! He's a sensitive soul with issues of his own, but he's also a sweetheart too."

With that, the song just about came to a close as Scarlet sighed, "He may not be perfect, but he's just right for me! Someday I tell him how much he makes me happy."

With that, the redhead sighed when Cindy entered and asked, "Hey, Scarlet, what's up? I thought I just heard you singing."

Scarlet blushed lightly and removed her headphones, asking, "Did you hear what I was saying?" Cindy shaking her head and replying, "I missed most of them, but I heard something about someone making you happy."

"Well, I was just singing along to an MP3," Scarlet replied with a nervous grin as Cindy nodded and asked, "So, is there anything else you wanna do today?"

The redhead let out a sigh and nodded her head, suggesting the two go for a walk. After all, with no one else wandering the halls, they could talk about this in private.

With all said and done, the two exited the room and went for a walk, Scarlet asking, "Hey, Cindy, just out of curiosity, you have moved on from Damien, right? I know you said you were fine with his rejection, but I just wanna make sure."

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine with that," Cindy replied with a sweet smile, "You have a lot more in common with him anyway."

Scarlet's cheeks turned bright pink as she laughed nervously, remarking, "Are you suggesting that I go out with him?" Cindy shrugging her shoulders and replying, "You might wanna consider giving him a chance. I think it could work."

Scarlet bit her lower lip, feeling a tad more content now that she knew her best friend was okay with this. As such, she signalled the pink-haired woman to bring her head closer as she whispered, "I've recently developed those very feelings for him."

Cindy's eyes widened briefly as a big smile appeared on her face, the woman squealing and giving her friend a hug. Scarlet was not expecting such an enthusiastic reaction, but she was happy to know how much her friend approved as she smiled nervously and patted her back.

"The worst part is that, like you, I'm just not sure if I should tell him," Scarlet sighed as Cindy shook her head and sang, "I know what you are going through, it's not so easy. Those butterflies inside make you feel so queasy," Scarlet's eyes going wide as the pink-haired woman added, "But if you keep it bottled up, you'll never know what you're missing."

"Why are you singing?" the redhead remarked as Cindy ignored her question and pulled her down the hall, singing, "A guy like him doesn't come by often, believe me, I would know. If you believe it should be, well, then it might be so."

"But what if I'm not the one?" Scarlet asked as Cindy sighed, "I see the way you two connect, it's as natural as can be. You and him are meant to be one, just take it from me. I'm not an expert, but I can see the way he looks at you. His feelings are the same as yours, I know this to be true."

"Really?" Scarlet asked as the pink-haired woman continued, "You might not see it now, but if you act then you will see that the joining of you and Damien is simply meant to be!"

With that, the song came to an end as Scarlet blinked and asked, "Seriously, where did that come from?" Cindy replying, "Where did what come from?" all going silent as the redhead pinched herself to confirm that she was not dreaming.

When she found herself in the same hallway, she blinked and said, "Right," before sighing, "Anyway, you're right. Maybe I should just tell Damien how I feel, but it's just so hard. You know what it's like."

"That's true," Cindy replied, "It was really hard for me to confess my feelings. Maybe I can help you out," Scarlet taking a deep breath and replying, "No, I really should do this alone."

During this time, Damien was trying to put together lyrics from famous songs as he uttered, "Love lift us up where we belong, look, dear Scarlet. The moon is out tonight," the man slapping his forehead and groaning, "Oh god, how can mashing together a bunch of already existing songs be so hard!?"

With that, the man took a deep breath, his eyes actually going wide as he sang to himself, "There's something that I must confess," the man writing it down as he added, "I know it's hard to believe, but there's a feeling deep in my soul that simply will not leave."

The man continued to write as he sang to himself, "I know it might sound crazy, it doesn't sound like me, but trust me when I say that we are simply meant to be."

He then started to imagine an upbeat melody in his mind as he added, "The day that I met you, I'll admit, I was a little scared. You seemed to have a temper that could not be ensnared. But now I know better. You're such an amazing woman. You fill my days with light, you make feel like a happy man. You made me open my eyes wider than normal. You made me smile, which seemed impossible. You taught me to swim, you taught me to love. It's like the heavens sent you from up above."

The man blinked and said, "Wow, this is actually pretty good," before writing more and singing, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you make my day. It may not sound like me, but I believe we're meant to be."

With that, the man took a deep breath and said, "Well, it is a tad amateurish and a bit too short, but this is the best I can do. As long as I don't try out for musical theatre, I'll be fine."

With all said and done, the man took a deep breath and got up from his seat with the paper folded up in his pocket. He knew the others would likely be back soon, so he needed to get this over and done with sooner than later.

At this exact moment, Scarlet had actually come to his room and was about to knock on the door when Damien opened it and blinked. He stared silently for a few seconds and said, "Oh, hey Scarlet."

"Hi, Damien," the redhead said with a light smile as the man uttered, "I was just about to look for you, actually. Well, this certainly saves me time."

"Well, good," Scarlet replied, trying her best to hide how nervous she was right now. Damien found this a lot easier since he still had quite a bit of trouble changing his facial expressions.

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing here," Scarlet said as Damien replied, "Not really. I figured you might just want to hang out or something, maybe have a drink."

"Oh, that sounds so tempting, but not right now," the redhead replied, "Actually, I have something I want to tell you," Damien stuffing his hand in his pocket and saying, "I have something to tell you as well, but you can go first."

"No, you first," Scarlet said, the woman starting to get cold feet while the black-haired man took a deep breath. But just as he was about to pull out his paper, he realized the redhead would likely accept him even if he did not sing. If these words were ones he had written down, it would only show his lack of self-confidence.

With that in mind, the man took a deep breath and said, "Scarlet, you are probably the greatest person I've ever met."

The redhead's eyes widened as he added, "You taught me to smile, even though I still have a bit of trouble doing it. You make me feel happy whenever you're nearby, and-"

"Don't say anymore," Scarlet replied as she held up her finger, a light smile on her face as she added, "I actually came to tell you something similar."

With that, the two stared at one-another for a few seconds before leaning inward, their lips touching. The two then wrapped their arms around each-other and held it for a while, pulling away after a few seconds, a smile forming on Damien's face.

With all said and done, the two said nothing else as they held hands and decided to take a walk together down the hallway. Needless to say, both were more than happy to have finally gotten this off their chests.

But while things were going well in Crystal City, the same could not be said for New Domino as Glen entered a secret room where he currently stored all the parts his allies had gotten for him. Of course, right now, all he had was a fist, a foot and the red diamond Drake had gotten for him. The room also had plenty of core in it as the man sighed, "This is all well and good, but this isn't good enough."

He then took a deep breath and said, "I can definitely create another bomb, but it pisses me off so much! I got three perfect parts for the ultimate mech and yet it's only three! I need more!"

With that, the man headed out of the room and headed to his office before taking a deep breath and thought, 'It's okay. I'll just get the night workers to work extra hard. There has to be more.'

He then thought of something as he turned on the intercom and said, "I would like Felicity to come to my office, please."

A young woman with short grey hair looked up and headed toward the general's office. One could only imagine what Glen needed her for, but this would be revealed soon.

Meanwhile, in Crystal City, Damien and Scarlet had told Matt and Cindy of their relationship as the two were more than happy to hear this. Cindy gave them both a big hug while Matt simply gave Damien thumbs up.

"So, you wrote her a song?" Matt asked as Scarlet asked, "Song?" Damien sighing, "Well, I was going to express my feelings through song, but I'm no good with lyrics."

Matt then blinked and sighed, "You still wrote one, didn't you?" Damien uttering, "No," his eyes shifting back and forth as Matt grinned and exclaimed, "You totally did! Let's hear it!" only for Damien pull out the paper and rip it up, tossing the fragments into a nearby trash bin.

"Aw, I wanted to hear that," Scarlet whimpered as Damien sighed, "Trust me, it wasn't very good."

"Oh well, it means a lot to me that you even made one in the first place," the redhead replied with a light smile as everyone had arrived from his or her mission. It was only a matter of time until the whole army found out about Damien and Scarlet and neither really minded it.


	23. Chapter 23

Today was certain to be a tough on for Crystal City and with good reason. It seemed Glen's night crew had picked up signals of an ensemble of new parts and he could not have been happier. They could have picked them up then and there, but night mechs were not made for combat purposes so if they were to be attacked, that would be bad news.

Even so, he knew exactly what assignments to give and who to give them to. But of course, Morgan also knew of these and was devising a battle plan of her own.

Before that, though, the soldiers had all woken up as Damien smacked his lips and said, "Morning, Matt," the orange-haired man replying, "Good morning."

Scarlet and Cindy also woke up and were in the middle of getting changed as Cindy asked, "So, what are you and Damien planning to do during your free time?" as Scarlet replied, "Damien said he wanted to get some more swim practice in, though he would prefer we do it alone. Not sure how that's gonna be possible with everyone here, but I guess if time it right, we can get some alone time."

"Just think, once this war finally ends, you can go on real dates," Cindy stated with a sweet smile.

All the while, Steven had woken early and was ready for the day as he headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. There he met up with a certain brunette named Cici and a young blonde man named Thomas.

After his first successful high ranking mission, he apologized to both Cici and Thomas. After explaining his predicament, the two understood entirely and now the three were friends and had even partnered up a few times. Though now they did not as ever since Steven achieved that one victory, he had become more successful and as such had finally gotten that promotion he wanted.

"So, any idea what's on tap for today?" Cici asked as Steven shrugged and replied, "Probably more core or oil to collect. I don't think I've been deemed worthy of the mech part missions yet."

"You never know," Thomas replied, "Morgan's been very happy with you lately," Steven nodding and replying, "Yeah. Honestly, I was starting to doubt this would ever happen."

During this time, Morgan was looking over the reports from the night crew when suddenly her phone rang. The woman answered it and said, "Hey, Morgan speaking."

"Hello, ma'am," came a voice from the other end, "Just want you to know we have a new applicant for the army. Says she would make for a great secretary."

"A secretary?" Morgan remarked, "We've never had a secretary before."

The woman then looked at all the paperwork before her and said, "Though I guess having one would make things easier. Alright, bring her in."

And soon enough, a young silver-haired woman was brought to the office as she introduced herself as Felicity. Since no one in Crystal City had ever seen her outside of her mech, she did not even need a disguise or fake alias and as such, she knew this was perfectly safe.

"So, how organized would you consider yourself?" Morgan asked as Felicity replied, "Oh, very organized. You could say I'm a bit of perfectionist."

"Perfect," the general replied with a smile as she held out her hand, "Welcome to the army, Felicity."

The silver-haired woman shook her hand with a light smile and thought, 'Wow, Glen wasn't kidding when he said this would be easy. This woman's a total airhead.'

During this time, Drake and the others were seated for breakfast, Katherine and Katie sitting with them now. Katherine still had not mustered up the courage to confess her feelings for Drake, but she swore she would do it today once she completed her mission, that was if she got any.

"So, ready for another round of origami?" Taylor asked as Aadil smiled and said, "You better believe it."

"Have fun with that," Drake remarked as he folded his arms, Taylor tauntingly asking, "Aw, is Drake embarrassed because his paper folding skills suck?" the blue-haired man pushing her away from him.

Angela chuckled lightly as Katie said, "We like Origami," Taylor replying, "Sweet. We've been making sculptures of our Yu-Gi-Oh monsters. You up for that?"

Katie and Katherine's eyes sparkled as she exclaimed, "Are we ever!?"

However, it was at that exact moment when Glen called all five of them to the office. And currently, the same was happening with Damien and his friends along with Steven in Crystal City.

Once all five sat down, Steven grinned and said, "Oh, hey guys," the other four giving him a light wave when Morgan said, "Good to see you all here. First, I'd like you to meet my new secretary, Felicity."

The silver-haired woman bowed her head and said, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Damien saying, "Funny, you never had a secretary before."

"Well, that was before I realized what a good idea it would be to have one," the general replied, "Anyway, onto your assignments."

All five were now fully interested as she said, "Alright, Damien, I know you haven't been here for a month yet, but I feel you've more than proven yourself ready for a solo mission. Do you think you can handle it?"

The man nodded and replied, "As a matter of fact, I do," Morgan smiling and replying, "That's good to hear because I need each of you to go to a separate location."

With that, the woman pulled out a list and said, "Damien, I have located a metal torso in the Gem Desert. Matt, you are to go to the Ruby Swamp and pick up a head. Cindy, I have located a pair of legs in Diamond Valley. You are to retrieve those. Scarlet, you are to head to the Sapphire Gorge and get me a pair of arms."

"And what about me?" Steven asked as Morgan sighed, "A week ago, I would have never considered you for this, but lately, I think you've proven yourself more than worthy. I have detected a foot, shoulder and fist that match the ones I detected earlier. Those are located in the Jade Coalmine."

"Aw, the coalmine?" Steven groaned as Morgan sighed, "I'd like to reiterate you are looking for parts, not oil or core."

"Oh yeah," the green-haired man replied with a big smile, the general saying, "Well, off you go," all five giving her an army salute and heading to the hanger.

Before boarding their mechs, though, Damien and Scarlet turned to one-another with gentle smiles on their faces. They wished the best of luck while giving each-other a peck on the cheek and a light hug. Cindy and Matt both beamed bright at this while Steven seemed confused for a second but chose not to question it.

During this time, Drake and the others had also been given the same assignments. Drake was to find the torso while Aadil had to get the legs. Angela was sent to pick up the three different parts and Taylor was chosen for the head. That left Katherine to take care of the arms, and there was no way she would fail this one.

On that note, both groups were off, each soldier heading to a different location. But one thing was for certain: they would all have to face each-other soon. There was no doubt about that.

While the soldiers headed to their selected locations, Felicity was sorting out various files in Morgan's office as the general said, "Hey, just a quick heads-up. Your break is at noon," the woman getting up and stretching while adding, "I'm gonna go for a walk."

Felicity nodded and smirked as she thought, 'That's just perfect.'

She then proceeded to reach for the knob to a certain drawer on Morgan's desk. This particular drawer was where she kept her most important files, the ones only she could see. These included mech blueprints, secret battle plans and many other things.

However, there was just one problem: not even Morgan was dumb enough to let anyone break into this drawer. As such, she had enforced it with a lock, but this did not deter Felicity one bit. All she needed to do was pull out a hairpin and use it to pick the lock before opening the drawer.

'Alright, let's see what she's got here,' the woman thought before noticing blueprints for a project titled 'Replacement for Emma's Mech'. This meant nothing to Felicity as she continued to look through the papers. She noticed one outlining plans to create a big bomb from the core Morgan had been gathering as a means of getting back at Glen for his attempt at blowing them up.

'Better keep this one just in case,' she thought as she folded it up and placed it in her pocket. And after more searching, she found exactly what she was looking for, a piece of paper outlining where the shoulder and chest she had gotten were kept. It also included her plans to soon install them into the weaker mechs and make them stronger.

"Well, that does seem like a good use for them," she said with a shrug, "But oh well. Glen's gonna use them for better."

With that, the woman placed that paper in her other pocket before closing the drawer and locking it with her hairpin. With all said and done, it seemed whatever Glen had planned with the parts was a mystery.

There was only one thing left to do before Felicity could initiate her plan, though. That was to wait for the soldiers to return. If even one of them succeeded, she was to take whichever part they managed to salvage and bring it with her to the base. As for how she would do this, it was the simple act of stealing a mech from the hanger.

During this time, Steven had arrived at the Jade Coalmine and entered it. The man flew around with his metal detector on, whistling a simple mining song to himself. He would often do this over the past in order to prevent the place from becoming stale, especially since this was the only location Morgan had sent him to.

As he looked around, her grinned and thought, 'Alright, I'm gonna make Morgan super proud of me! This is gonna be amazing! I'll be hailed as a true hero and stand tall alongside Damien! Maybe she'll upgrade my mech again!"

As it just so happened, Steven's promotion also earned him a new mech. This one was green and had a bulky design to it. Since the green-haired man liked the shoulder cannons, Morgan decided his new mech should have those as well, though these ones were more powerful. To top it all off, the mech also had twenty-five hundred vitality.

While flying around, though, he heard a noise and turned to the right as a giant mole busted through one of the walls. The man breathed a sigh of relief when the mammal sniffed his mech briefly before leaving the area, the green-haired sighing, "Right, I keep forgetting there are no carnivorous animals in this place."

With that, he carried on as his metal detector started to go off. The man grinned and sped toward the signal. But when he got to where it was coming from, his eyes and mouth were wide open. It seemed someone else, specifically the owner of a purple mech that resembled a boxer, had already found the foot and had started to dig up the shoulder with a drill.

'Yes, this is my chance!' the man thought, 'If I take this soldier out of the picture, all three will be easy pickings.'

But just as he was about to fly in and initiate a battle, another mole came out as Angela turned and said, "Oh, hello mister mole," the mole carrying on its way when the Asian woman noticed Steven.

After a few seconds, she panicked and hit the red button. Thus the slots on her mech opened up and released the small orbs, a transparent sphere surrounding the two as Steven groaned, "Great, so much for going first."

With that, both soldiers drew their cards as Steven's eyes widened. He had drawn a really good hand and wished he could play at least one of his cards right now. However, it was Angela's turn first and thus he knew he would have to wait.

Now that the duel had started, Angela's more serious side took over as she was fully focused on the cards in her hand. She noticed three cards that she knew she could use this turn and thus was fully confident.

The Asian woman set two cards in her spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode without hesitation. And with that, her turn was over as Steven grinned with anticipation.

He wasted no time summoning a monster of his own. The monster in question was a young girl wearing a blue mage outfit with long orange hair. Her name was 'Magician's Valkyria' and she had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

Angela did not look the least bit intimidated by this as the woman pointed her staff at her defending monster and fired a magic blast toward it. The card flipped itself over to reveal a robot with blue arms and legs and a dark-green torso. This was 'Gogogo Golem' but while his attack power of eighteen hundred, his defence was only fifteen hundred.

With that in mind, Steven grinned and said, "You shouldn't have wasted such a powerful monster!" but when the blast of magic struck the golem, it had no effect as his body temporarily turned red and orange.

"What just happened?" Steven asked as Angela explained, "It's Gogogo Golem's special effect. As long as he's in defence mode, he can survive one attack per turn. Any other monster with such a high attack power I'd never play in defence mode, but he's different."

With that in mind, Steven's final phase had started up as he said, "In that case, I'll at least prevent you from destroying my Valkyria."

With that, the man activated the equip spell, 'Sword of Deep Seated'. But just as his mech was about to conjure up the sword into Valkyria's free hand, Angela revealed a trap card called 'Dark Bribe'. This card Steven did recognize and while it did allow him to draw a card, it also destroyed his equip spell.

With that, the green-haired man's turn came to a close as he prayed the woman did not have anything too good in her hand. And it at least seemed so when she summoned her next card, a young man clad in armour with short blond hair named 'Marauding Captain'. Luckily, he only had an attack power of twelve hundred, so this was not much of a threat.

However, Steven was a tad more worried when Angela summoned another monster, an orange old lady with red armour and a magic staff. This was 'Old Vindictive Magician' and she had an attack power of four hundred and fifty.

"How did you do that?" Steven asked as Angela sighed, "It's another special effect. See, Marauding Captain allows me to special summon a level four or lower monster from my hand. It's quite simple, really."

However, for safety measures, the woman had at least summoned her monster in defence mode, so Steven would not have to worry about being attacked by this one. But even so, this did not change the fact that Angela's Gogogo Golem was now in attack mode with its fists clenched.

With that, the robot charged at the woman and punched her hard in the face, sending her flying into Steven's mech as his vitality went down to twenty-three hundred. His Valkyria decayed into the ground as Marauding Captain struck Steven with his sword, reducing his vitality to eleven hundred. And with that out of the way, Angela's turn came to a close as the green-haired man gulped.

He could not believe this. He was actually competent now and yet in just two turns, he had already taken in quite a lot of damage. Even so, there was no way he would give up as he noticed his next card, his eyes going wide as a grin formed on his face.

"Well, you've been a tough opponent so far, but wait'll you see this!" the man exclaimed as he summoned a man with tan-coloured skin and spiky blue hair. This was 'Flame Ruler' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

'I'm guessing he probably has something to make this worth it,' Angela thought as Steven activated a spell called 'Salamandra'. With that, his mech sent a blast from one of its shoulder cannons into Flame Ruler's hand thus conjuring up a sword covered in flames and bringing his attack power up to twenty-two hundred.

"Alright, let's show her a thing or two!" Steven exclaimed as Angela said, "Not a bad move," Flame Ruler charging forward. But just as he was about to attack, the Asian woman revealed her other trap, 'Shadow Spell'. Steven's eyes widened as her mech whipped out a long chain and used it to bind Flame Ruler in place.

Steven panicked as his monster's attack power dropped back to fifteen hundred, Angela saying, "Looks like my victory is guaranteed."

However, the green-haired man was not ready to give up as he smirked and said, "Don't count your chickens until they've hatched," and with that, he activated the equip spell 'Malevolent Nuzzler' as a green demonic woman appeared and gave Flame Ruler a shoulder rub, bringing his attack power back to twenty-two hundred.

While the monster was still unable to attack, his attack power was at least high enough that he could survive an incoming assault. Steven's turn came to a close as he took a deep breath and thought, 'Please tell me she doesn't have a countermeasure for this.'

When Angela drew her next card, it seemed that luck was finally on Steven's side as she had nothing that could destroy his Flame Ruler. With that in mind, she summoned a metallic pegasus with a silver body and golden wings named 'ZW Unicorn Spear'. Since this monster only had nineteen hundred attack points, it was not powerful enough to defeat Flame Ruler but it would still be bad news for anyone else Steven would summon.

Even so, the man's turn was next as he drew his next card. His eyes went wide as a light tear rolled down his cheek, a light smile forming. He had just made what could only be described as the perfect draw as he grinned and stated, "I am no longer the pincushion I used to be and now, I'm going to prove it yet again!"

With that in mind, the man sacrificed Flame Ruler as his mech blew him up with its shoulder cannons. He then summoned a big red dragon that was still in his shell. The monster then poked his head up to reveal his red torso and let out a threatening roar. This monster was 'Ryu-Ran' and had an attack power of twenty-two hundred.

Angela had to admit that she was now a bit intimidated as she said, "Oh, right, Flame Ruler counts as two tributes when used to summon fire type monsters."

"That's right!" Steven exclaimed as the dragon sent a stream of fire from his mouth into Marauding Captain. The man let out a loud cry of pain as his body melted, revealing his skeleton as it collapsed into small fragments.

The flame then carried on and struck Angela's mech, bringing her vitality down to eighteen hundred. However, Steven did not look too happy about this.

"What just happened?" the green-haired man asked, "I was aiming for that unicorn thing."

"Oh, sorry to disappoint," Angela sighed, "but that's Marauding Captain's other effect. As long as he's face-up on the field, you can't attack any other monster."

Steven blinked and grinned before saying, "Well, that's a good effect and all, but if you knew that, you really should have placed him in defence mode."

"I hate to admit it, but you actually make a good point," Angela replied, "That was rather careless on my part."

With that in mind, the Asian woman drew her next card and sighed. Once again, she had nothing that could truly help her and thus she set all of her monsters into defence mode. However, she noticed there was one high-level monster in her hand that could be of use, a warrior clad in dark-blue armour and wielding two yellow lances named 'Ganbara Lancer'. While his attack power was only one-thousand, his defence power of two thousand, so if Steven was dumb enough to attack him with a new monster, he would likely take in some damage.

With that, she had her mech punch her Vindictive Magician in the back, the old woman sinking into the ground in exchange for the new monster. Though he was, of course, in face-down defence mode.

However, she did notice a spell in her hand that she could make some use of and wasted no time using it. With this in mind, she activated 'The Warrior Returning Alive' in order to bring her Marauding Captain back to her hand. It was not much, but at least it was something.

Steven grinned as he was finally getting somewhere. And when he drew his next card, he wasted no time summoning it. And the card in question was a warrior made entirely out of stone with golden wrist guards. His name was 'Destroyer Golem' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

'Good,' Angela thought, 'Let's see what he does'.

However, the Asian woman had to admit she was actually surprised when Steven had the golem march toward her Unicorn Spear and send a hard punch into the pegasus' face, knocking her hard on her side as her body sank into the ground. And with that, he had his Ryu-Ran send a burst of flames toward the defending Ganbara Lancer, the knight's armour melting as the skeleton of the one wearing said armour was revealed.

Angela stared silently as Steven asked, "Surprised? Believe it or not, even a guy like me can use logic. First of all, that unicorn of yours had zero defence power. That made him an easy target when he was defending. Secondly, I remembered the fact that your golem can survive one attack when defending, so there was no reason for me to attack him."

"I guess you do have a good sense of logic after all," Angela said with a sigh Steven's turn ended. But while her duelling self may have been calm and collected right now, her real self was trembling in fear inside her head. Steven had been such an easy opponent at first and yet ever since he summoned his Ryu-Ran, his chances had gone up exponentially.

Even so, Angela would not give up as she drew her next card. While, again, her hand was nothing special, she could at least do something with this and she had just enough vitality to risk this move. As such, she once again summoned her Marauding Captain and used his effect to special summon a warrior in red armour named 'Tasuke Knight'. Since his attack power was only seventeen hundred, Angela had him defence mode.

On that note, though, she also managed to summon a small black gecko with red eyes named 'Kagetokage'. Once again, the monster had a low attack power, eleven hundred to be exact, so she had him defend as well.

"Well, it's great that you managed to bolster your numbers," Steven said with a shrug, "but what exactly is this supposed to accomplish? You're not even going to attack my golem and you have your second-weakest monster in attack mode. You're just setting yourself up for more damage."

"How I use my turn is none of your concern," Angela remarked as Steven shrugged and drew his next card. All three of the monsters in his hand were high in level, but only one stuck out as one truly worth summoning.

With that, the man grinned and had his mech blow up both of his monsters with its shoulder cannons. He then used their sacrifice in order to summon a slender knight in silver and black armour.

However, his most distinguishable feature was how many weapons he had on him. Now only did he wield two swords, but he also had a dagger strapped to a shield, which was attached to his shoulder. He had a big sword strapped to his back and even a short sword attached to his face. This was 'Sword Hunter' and he had an attack power of twenty-four hundred and fifty.

Angela's normal self was freaking out now as Steven grinned, having his hunter rush at Marauding Captain and deliver an X-shaped slash to his midsection. With the captain down and out, the knight proceeded to strike Angela's mech, bringing her vitality down to five hundred and fifty.

However, it did not end there as once destroyed, Marauding Captain was revived in Steven's spell zone and treated as an equip spell, Sword Hunter's attack rising to twenty-six hundred and fifty. Angela now wished she could have done better but chose not to let this get to her as Steven beamed and exclaimed, "OH YEAH! I RULE!"

But just as it seemed he had the duel in the bag, Angela drew a card that she knew would turn this around for sure. However, it was not quite enough just yet so she would have to persevere for another turn before using it. Even so, once she summoned it, Steven would have no chance.


	24. Chapter 24

While Angela did have a lot of monsters in her side of the field, things were still looking really good for Steven now. The duel had started with the odds heavily against him, but now things were going his way and it seemed Angela had no way to respond.

However, the card she had drawn could help her, but she needed something else to make it work. As such, she held onto it and figured she could at least try to last until that moment came. And it seemed like she might have more time than she figured she would as the card Steven drew next was a monster with only eight hundred attack points.

The monster in question was a young woman seated on a throne with long purple hair named 'Protector of the Throne'. She did at least have a defence power of fifteen hundred, so at least having her defend him was not such a bad thing.

With that in mind, the green-haired man placed her face-down in defence mode and grinned as Sword Hunter charged at Tasuke Knight. The knight crossed his arms over his face but was ultimately sliced in half, his blood surrounding his body as he sank into the ground.

And just like before with Marauding Captain, the knight was revived as an equip card for Sword Hunter, bringing his attack power up to twenty-eight hundred and fifty. Steven clapped his hands over his head and exclaimed, "ALRIGHT! I'M GONNA WIN THIS FOR SURE!"

However, it seemed things might soon take a turn for the worse when Angela drew her next card. Upon seeing it, a light smirk formed on her face as she said, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

With that, the woman had her mech ram its fist hard into Kagetokage's back, the gecko's body splattered around that particular area. Soon enough, it sank into the ground as the reptile was replaced by a tall blond knight clad in silver and blue armour named 'Trance the Magic Swordsman'. His defence may have been a low two hundred, but his twenty-six hundred attack points more than made up for that.

Steven simply stared silently and uttered, "Yeah, that would have been a huge improvement before my Sword Hunter first attacked, but I think it's too late to make use of that now."

"Oh, is it?" Angela remarked as she activated a spell called 'Ego Boost'. With that, Trance's more serious look changed to a smug grin as he admired his reflection on his sword and flexed the muscles in his free arm. This brought his attack power up to thirty-six hundred as Steven's eyes widened, Angela changing Gogogo Golem to attack mode.

"I'll admit, you've proven yourself to be quite the challenge," the Asian woman stated, "But I'm afraid your moment in the spotlight is up."

With that, Trance rushed at Sword Hunter who held his swords up in front of his face. However, the magic swordsman easily sliced the blades in half as he sent a downward slash across the knight's midsection. Sword Hunter coughed up blood and fell hard on his back, sinking into the ground as Trance sent a burst of magic from his blade into Steven's mech.

This brought the green-haired man's vitality down to three hundred and fifty. As if that was not enough, Gogogo Golem proceeded to march toward his protector as she was soon revealed, a look of terror forming on her face as the robot punched hard hard in the chest, the woman coughing up blood and blanking out, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

With that, her turn came to a close as she took a deep breath and said, "Well, I look forward to seeing you try and get out of this."

When Steven drew his next card, his eyes went wide at what he had gotten. The monster in question was 'Queen's Double', a young woman with long orange hair, a blue coat and a jester's headband. She was weak with only three hundred and fifty attack points, but she could attack the opponent directly.

However, this was still not enough as Angela had five hundred and fifty vitality left, but even so, Steven was going to lose either way. With that in mind, the man summoned the monster and said, "Well, if I'm gonna lose, I may as well do something awesome first!"

"I guess I can admire that, but it won't help you," Angela remarked as it seemed Tasuke had a special effect. Since she had no cards left in her hand, the knight was special summoned from her graveyard and thus a shock wave emanated from his hands and ended Steve's battle phase.

With that, Steve's mech lowered its arms as the man sighed, "Well, I did my best," Angela giving him a brief army salute with her own mech and replying, "I commend you for your efforts. You almost won."

Angela's last turn started as she did not care what she drew. She figured she may as well give Steve the most dignified loss as she felt he had truly earned it. As such, she saw no better option than to have her strongest monster defeat him.

Trance raced toward Queen's Double and sliced her down the middle, her body lying on the ground as it sank into the Earth. The knight then finished the duel by sending a blast of magic into Steve's mech, bringing his vitality down to zero, the green-haired man propelling himself out of his seat and making his escape.

Angela was now free to gather the remaining parts without any trouble now that Steven had been taken care of. Though now that she was back to her regular self, she could not help but breathe heavily, especially since the green-haired man had come so close to defeating her.

While Steven's mission had been going on, Cindy looked around Diamond Valley for a pair of legs. Her metal detector had not yet sensed anything but she was certain she would find it soon.

Her search was soon interrupted when an eagle noticed her and flew at her. The woman felt ready this time, though, as she summoned a W-Wing Catapult, the plane shooting the creature down. The pink-haired woman had to admit it did pain her a bit to do that but it needed to be done.

"Nice shot, Miss," came a voice from behind her as her eyes widened, the woman slowly turning to see an orange mech with knives strapped to its side behind her. She squeaked in panic as the owner, namely Aadil, laughed and said, "You act like you weren't expecting competition or something."

Just as the African man was about to press the big red button to initiate the battle, Cindy wasted no time doing it herself, the woman slapping her hand against the button. With her new found courage and confidence, there was no way she would allow the enemy to go first.

Aadil simply shrugged as the sphere appeared and said, "Oh well, guess you get the first move."

Cindy took a deep breath and drew six cards seeing as it was her first turn. Her hand was actually quite decent as she looked over her options. Though currently, there was only one card she could stand to have out and as such, the woman summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn.

Aadil drew a card and grinned before activating a field spell called 'Dragon Ravine'. With that, the area within the sphere became a ravine with small mountains on the sides of the area. Cindy was rather scared as she only knew of field spells that made certain monsters stronger.

However, it seemed this one had a different effect as Aadil explained, "As long as Dragon Ravine is in play, I can do one of two things each turn. I can either draw one level four or lower Dragunity monster from my deck to my hand or I can send one from my deck to the graveyard."

"I guess you'll be adding one to your hand then," Cindy uttered as Aadil chuckled and replied, "Believe it or not, there are some cases where Dragunity monsters are more useful in the graveyard, though I am going to do that this turn."

With that, the man added a monster called 'Dragunity Militum' to his hand, but despite it having an attack power of seventeen hundred, he had no intention of playing it yet as he stated, "By the way, I actually had another reason for activating this spell."

The man then summoned an orange dragon with grey armour protecting his upper body, wrists and tail. This was 'Armed Dragon Level Three' and he had an attack power of twelve hundred. Cindy felt a tad more confident now until Aadil activated another spell by the name of 'Mage Power'.

Cindy squeaked in panic as a bright light surrounded the dragon, his attack power rising to twenty-two hundred. Aadil grinned and explained, "Mage Power raises the attack of the monster equipped with it by five hundred for each spell card in play, and that includes Mage Power itself."

On that note, the dragon unleashed a small flame as Cindy's defending monster was revealed to be a red and white robot named 'Machine King Prototype'. Since his defence power was only fifteen hundred, the fireball easily smashed him into tiny fragments as Aadil ended his turn and thought, 'Alright, come next turn, you're gonna see something even more amazing.'

However, as Cindy drew her next card, she was not the least bit worried. As it just so happened, she had three cards in her hand that could easily turn this around and there was no way she would pass this up.

With that in mind, the pink-haired woman activated a spell called 'Heavy Storm', Aadil's eyes and mouth wide with shock as he uttered, "No way."

A big twister appeared in the middle of the ravine as soon enough, all of the mountains and even the water had been destroyed. This was because Heavy Storm destroyed all spell and trap cards on the field, so needless to say, Mage Power soon joined the field spell and thus Armed Dragon was back to his initial attack power of twelve hundred.

It did not end there as Cindy proceeded to summon a beige mole with a blue back lined with spikes and drills representing his hands and nose. This was 'Drillroid' and he had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

Cindy had even more in store as she activated a spell called 'Machine Conversion Factory'. Mechanical arms sprouted up from the card and started to work on Drillroid as his attack power rose to nineteen hundred.

Now Aadil was even more worried as the mole tank rolled toward Armed Dragon and planted his drills into the dragon's chest. The dragon let out a light roar of pain as his armour scales cracked open, two big holes forming in his actual chest as he coughed up blood. And to add insult to injury, Drillroid rolled forward and rammed the dragon's corpse into Aadil's mech, bringing his vitality down to twenty-three hundred.

Cindy's turn came to a close as Aadil blinked and said, "I have to say, I'm quite impressed. Not only did you throw off my strategy but you even managed to add to the damage you dealt. Clearly I can't take you lightly."

"Thanks!" Cindy replied with a big smile. Sure, this was a serious battle, but the fact that she had pulled that off by herself was nothing to scoff at.

As Aadil drew his next card, he grinned as it seemed things had turned in his favour. With that in mind, he proceeded to activate a spell card called 'Foolish Burial'. With that, his 'Dragunity Javelin' was summoned from his deck only for a hand to come up out of the ground and pull him under it, the dragon's eyes and mouth wide with terror.

"Why did you do that?" Cindy squeaked as Aadil replied, "Just watch," the man summoning a warrior with big metallic wings on his back, a white suit of armour and a black war helmet that resembled the head of an owl. This was 'Dragunity Dux' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

Cindy was confused until she noticed the man's attack power rise to seventeen hundred, Aadil explaining, "By the way, Dux gains two hundred attack points for every Dragunity card I control, and that includes himself. But he's gonna get an even bigger increase soon enough."

The man then discarded one of his cards as suddenly, Dragunity Javelin returned, only now he was in the spell zone. Cindy could not help but panic when the dragon soared toward Dux's arm and attached itself to it with its teeth, its tail straightening out just like the tip of an actual javelin.

Cindy squeaked as Dux's attack power rose to thirty-one hundred attack points, Aadil explaining, "Dux's ability allows me to revive a Dragon-type Dragunity monster and use it as an equip card, thus bringing his attack power up. And since Javelin here is a Dragunity card, Dux gains an additional two hundred attack points.

The pink-haired woman stared in absolute shock. She had no idea how to get around this as Dux flew toward Drillroid and pierced his body, the warrior carrying on and ramming his blade tip into Cindy's mech. This brought her vitality down to one thousand. Needless to say, this would be very difficult to overcome.

Even so, her turn was next as she took a deep breath and drew. This time around, she had managed to draw a decent trap, namely 'Negate Attack'. With this in mind, the woman put on a serious look and placed the card face-down in her spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode. There was no way she would give up, not yet.

Aadil's turn came as he grinned and said, "Well, looks like I got me another winner," the man summoning a humanoid owl with a spear aptly named 'Hunter Owl'. Cindy was rather confused as his attack power was only one-thousand, but she panicked when that rose to two thousand.

"Hunter Owl's ability is similar to that of Dux," Aadil explained, "Only he gains five hundred attack points for every wind type monster on the field, including himself. Not only that, but as long as there's another wind monster on the field, you can't choose him as a target."*

This was definitely bad news as Cindy was much more likely to draw a monster stronger than Hunter Owl. Even so, she at least knew she would be safe this turn for when the owl rushed toward her defending monster, she revealed her trap as a swirling vortex formed. A light emitted from it thus preventing Aadil's monsters from attacking as the man took a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I certainly wasn't prepared for that," he said as Cindy drew her next card. Her eyes went wide as the monster in question was her Gyroid. If Aadil's next move was one that could work in her favour, Cindy could very well use this to at least survive a little bit longer.

With this in mind, the woman started her turn by activating a spell called 'A Feather of the Phoenix'. With that, her mech tossed a burning phoenix feather and transformed into Drillroid, the mech then inhaling the mole tank and returning him to the top of Cindy's deck.

"Trying to keep your monster alive?" Aadil said with a grin, "I will admit, that one's special ability is pretty good, but mark my words, I have no intention of summoning any monsters in defence mode."

The pink-haired woman ignored his words and thought, 'Please let this turn out well' before summoning her Gyroid face-down in defence mode. Gyroid had an effect similar to Gogogo Golem in which he could survive one attack per turn. The difference was that this effect worked even if he was in attack mode.

Aadil drew his next card and grinned as he said, "Hey, look at that. I didn't need Armed Dragon Level Three after all."

The man proceeded to sacrifice his Hunter Owl as his mech used its knives to put multiple holes in his skin. Soon, the owl vanished in a cloud of smoke as a red dragon clad in grey armour covered in spikes appeared. This was 'Armed Dragon Level Five' and he had an attack power of twenty-four hundred.

Cindy bit her lip but took a deep breath. She had actually hoped he would only have two monsters on his side of the field. Now there was only one last thing he needed to do, and that was to attack her other monster so Gyroid would survive the turn.

With that, it seemed Cindy had extreme luck on her side as Aadil had his Armed Dragon unleash a large ball of fire into the defending monster. The monster in question was revealed to be a red demon with jagged teeth weilding a spiked club named 'Abaki', and since his defence was only one thousand, he was easy pickings. Thus his body was burned to a crisp as only his skeleton remained, but that soon turned into powder.

However, his death was not the end of the attack as his club flew out of his hands and hit Cindy's mech, reducing her vitality to five hundred. But when it hit, it also bounced off and struck Aadil's mech, bringing his vitality down to thirteen hundred.

"So you found a way to damage me," Aadil said with a grin, "Not bad, but it seems to have taken a toll on you as well."

Deep down, Cindy would not have set that monster if she had a better option, but since she still had vitality to work with, this was good enough for her. Thanks to Aadil's choice, she had another chance to turn things around.

This especially seemed so when Dux flew toward Gyroid, the blue helicopter with cartoon eyes soon revealed. And just as Cindy had predicted, Dux's lance strike had done absolutely nothing as the chopper remained on the field.

"Clever," Aadil said with a grin, "You've prolonged defeat a bit longer."

When Cindy drew her Drillroid, she took a deep breath and knew this could very well be the end. With that in mind, she summoned her monster in defence mode and ended her turn.

Aadil drew his next card and said, "Well, you put up a reasonable fight, but victory is mine," the African man summoning one last monster. This was his 'Dragunity Militum', a woman with metallic wings, white and green armour and a sword and dagger. Her attack power was seventeen hundred.

Though to make sure Aadil would win for sure, Militum activated her effect and special summoned Javelin from the spell zone. Sure, Dux lost a significant amount of attack as it was reduced to twenty-one hundred, but he was still more than powerful enough to be of help.

With that in mind, Javelin soared at Gyroid and rammed his nose into the chopper while Dux flew in and finished the monster off with a hard punch. This caused Gyroid to fall on his back, his eyes spinning as he exploded seconds later.

And on that note, Armed Dragon used a big fireball to light the defending Drillroid on fire. His entire body ended up melting as a result and thus Cindy was completely unprotected.

'Well, I did my best,' the pink-haired woman thought with a sigh, 'Sorry, Morgan.'

And to end it all, Militum flew at Cindy's mech and struck it with both of her swords thus bringing the woman's vitality down to zero. The mech started to sputter as Cindy propelled herself out of her seat and took off on her jet pack.

A part of her did feel a little bad, though. After such a great first turn, it pained her to have had absolutely nothing that could have stood up to his strengthened Dux. But in the end, a loss was a loss and there was nothing she could do about it.

Scarlet was looking around the Sapphire Gorge while everything else had happened as she thought, 'Alright, this area is small this should be easy.'

The woman then spotted a pair of arms and thought, 'Bingo!' but just as she flew over, Katherine had already arrived in the area with a grin as she exclaimed, "Sweet! That was easy!"

However, Scarlet figured now was a perfect opportunity to get the drop on her as she crept up behind the woman and pressed the big red button to initiate a duel. And with that, the sphere appeared around the two as Katherine turned and groaned, "Right, I should have seen this coming."

However, she saw this as a perfect opportunity to finally prove herself worthy of being in the army. It had been a while since her last victory, so she really needed this.

Note: Before any of you call BS on me for this, I looked this up. Unless an effect like this specifies that it doesn't work on the monster who uses it (Like, if you don't see words like 'except -monster's name- here'), the monster is able to use it on itself.


	25. Chapter 25

It seemed another duel was underway as Scarlet had challenged Katherine. Though could the redhead claim this part while two of her allies had failed or would Katherine finally redeem herself? Whatever the case, the two had drawn their starting hands as Scarlet went first.

When she drew, her eyes went wide as she gazed upon a particular spell card. It was called 'Dark Snake Syndrome' and it sapped the vitality out of both duellists during every standby phase.

The redhead had drawn this card before but never had any intention of playing it. The only reason she had it was because her sister had given it to her for her birthday and she knew it would be rude not to accept it. Even so, a part of her wished she had never gotten it.

"Hey, are you gonna do something or not!?" Katherine barked, "If you wanna forfeit, I can't blame you!" Scarlet shaking her head and thinking, 'Right, I can win without this spell.'

The woman summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn, Katherine sighing, "Geez, all that buildup for that?" the woman drawing her next card.

Her eyes widened at the sight of her draw as she grinned wickedly. This was perfect. As such, she placed a card face-down in her spell zone and summoned a monster of her own in defence mode, ending her turn.

Scarlet had to admit that this did throw her off-guard a bit. Normally a soldier going second would take this opportunity to attack, so one could only assume her monster had a high defence power. But luckily, the redhead had a monster more than powerful enough to deal with the majority of low level monsters with high defence power.

First, she set a trap card she had drawn as she summoned a blue robot with two rings full of electricity floating next to it. This was 'Thunder King Rai-Oh' and it had an attack power of nineteen hundred. Katherine's eyes widened at the sight of this as she had to admit, that was rather intimidating.

Scarlet saw this as a perfect chance to attack her opponent directly and thus, she wasted no time revealing her defending monster. This was a metallic phoenix aptly named 'Cyber Phoenix' and had an attack power of twelve hundred.

The redhead wasted no time as she had Rai-Oh send a burst of electricity toward the defending monster, revealing it to be a ship known as 'Yomi Ship'. It did not have a face like one of Cindy's Roid monsters. It was just a simple ship possessed by spirits.

But just as the lightning was about to strike, Katherine smirked and revealed her face-down card, a trap by the name of 'Poseidon Wave'. With that, a big tidal wave appeared and took on the form of hands, forcing the lightning back as Rai-Oh could no longer attack this turn. To make matters worse, the water also hit Scarlet's mech pretty hard and brought her vitality down to twenty-three hundred.

With nothing left to do, the redhead took a deep breath and ended her turn. Katherine, all the while, grinned and thought, 'Yes! This is a great start! I might just win this after all!'

Her grin grew even wider when her next draw was 'Polymerization'. To make things even better, she had two particular monsters who were perfect for this. As such, the woman wasted no time activating her spell as two monsters appeared on the field.

One was a rather ugly fish with beady blue eyes and three tongues named 'Tongyo'. The other was a water snake with blue dragon wings named 'Bottom Dweller'. Once the two appeared, a swirling vortex appeared behind them as they started to merge.

Tongyo latched his tongues around Bottom Dweller and forced the snake tail-side first into his mouth. Soon his entire body expanded and covered him completely, his body expanding into that of a shark with a blue gem on his forehead. The two monsters had become 'Deepsea Shark' and had an attack power of nineteen hundred.

But it did not end there as Katherine sacrificed her Yomi Ship, her mech breaking it apart with its trident. In the boat's place was dark-blue penguin with a jagged beak named 'The Great Emperor Penguin'. This monster had an attack power of eighteen hundred and let out a fierce battle cry.

Scarlet gulped as the penguin slid on his belly into Cyber Phoenix, the bird flying backwards into Scarlet's mech and bringing her vitality down to seventeen hundred. Deepsea Shark was soon to end it as he leapt at Rai-Oh and bit into the robot, the robot's body soon covered in electricity. As a result, the shark found himself electrocuted after biting off the robot's head, both monsters down for the count.

But when Katherine's turn came to a close, Scarlet was not sure what to do. But when she drew her next card, it seemed things might just take a turn for the better. This was a rather risky move on her part, but she saw no other options.

With that, the woman summoned a brown spider with a huge abdomen named 'Jirai Gumo'. This certainly seemed like a great choice of monster as he had an attack power of twenty-two hundred, far higher than most level four monsters. The only downside was his effect, which could have made things significantly harder.

Katherine stared blankly and asked, "How is that a level four monster? I mean, granted, it's defence power is pathetic, but come on!"

All became clear when Scarlet's mech pulled out a big coin and sighed, "Because if this coin lands on the wrong side, I lose half of my vitality."

Katherine was not sure whether to see this as truly great or not as the coin was flipped, Scarlet exclaiming, "I call tails!" and as luck would have it, she had managed to guess it right. With that, the spider crawled over to the penguin and scooped him up with her front feet, devouring the bird whole. She then proceeded to spit the penguin's skull out of her mouth and into Katherine's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-eight hundred.

With all said and done, Scarlet's turn came to a close as she breathed a sigh of relief. Now things were starting to look up as Katherine drew her next card with hesitation. But when she did so, she saw at least a decent move in the making as she took a deep breath and thought, 'Well, it's better than nothing.'

Her mech did have a lot of vitality to spare, so she figured she could take the risk as she summoned the only non-water based monster in her deck. This was a little girl with messy brown hair and a brown top. Her name was 'Saambell The Summoner' and she had an attack power of six hundred.

Scarlet blinked and asked, "Why would you summon such a weak monster in attack mode?" Katherine sighing, "Her ability's kinda useful," as she then had Star Boy special summoned from her hand and added, "When I summon this monster, I can special summon another with the same level as her."

Scarlet nodded and thought, 'So she's increasing her numbers. That won't help her too much.'

The redhead then drew her next card and summoned a dark-grey horse with a long yellow mane named 'Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts'. This particular monster had sixteen hundred attack points thus making him very useful.

With that, Scarlet has the horse gallop toward Star Boy and strike the starfish with his snout. This made very quick work of the monster as it was now Jirai Gumo's turn. Once again, the red mech flipped a coin as Scarlet called heads. Unfortunately, the coin landed on tails thus the redhead's vitality dropped to eight hundred and fifty.

Scarlet winced, but at the same time, it certainly looked worse for Katherine as Jirai Gumo devoured Saambell and send her skull flying into the blue mech. This brought Katherine's vitality down to twelve hundred as she gritted her teeth and thought, 'Dammit, I need to win this!'

But when the woman drew her next card, she breathed a sigh of relief as she had drawn 'Pot of Greed'. It would not guarantee anything, but at least it would give her more options to work with. And with that in mind, the woman activated her spell and drew two cards. And when she gazed upon the cards, her eyes sparkled as she thought, 'Perfect!'

One of these cards was a monster too powerful for her to summon, but the other was a spell that would make this duel so much easier. And the woman wasted no time activating it as the spell in question was 'Swords of Revealing Light'.

Katherine's mech pulled out an array of swords made entirely out of light and hurled them in front of Scarlet as the woman's eyes went wide. She certainly recognized this card and knew that as long as it was on the field, she could not attack for three turns.

Katherine breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Well, just try getting around this," Scarlet narrowing her eyelids as her turn started. A part of her wanted to play her Dark Snake Syndrome just so she could deal damage, but right now, Katherine's vitality was too high and Scarlet's vitality was too low. She knew this card would result in her beating herself by the end of the duel and as such, she figured she may as well toughen up her monster selection.

With that in mind, the redhead had her mech slice off both of her monster's heads with its chakram as they collapsed and sank into the ground. She then used the sacrifice to summon a black dragon with red eyes aptly named 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'. Katherine's eyes widened as this was a very rare and powerful monster with twenty-four hundred attack points. She could not help but feel lucky that Scarlet could not attack this turn.

The woman drew her next card and breathed a sigh of relief when the monster in question turned out to be a monster she could summon. And on that note, she wasted no time summoning it in defence mode. Now she only needed one more and this duel was hers.

Of course Scarlet was intent on raising her numbers as well, so when she drew a monster of her own, she also set it in defence mode. Though currently, she could not help but pray that her next card was 'Harpie's Feather Duster'. Who knew exactly what Katherine would be able to pull off in two more turns?

Katherine once again drew a monster of her own as she smirked and said, "Well, Red, you've done an admirable job, but it seems this duel is mine."

With that in mind, she summoned another monster in defence mode as Scarlet knew exactly what was coming. Katherine most likely had a high level monster in her hand and was planning to summon it next turn.

With that in mind, Scarlet took a deep breath and thought, 'Okay, please give me Harpie's Feather Duster.'

Unfortunately, she had drawn another monster, and a rather weak one at that. With that in mind, all she could do now was protect herself as she summoned another monster in defence mode, flipping her Red-Eyes into the same position. At this point, she could not afford to have him in attack mode.

However, she still had her spell card, Dark Snake Syndrome. At the rate things were going, Scarlet had a feeling this would end in failure, so at the very least, she could have this all end in a draw instead. With that in mind, the woman activated the spell as Katherine's eyes widened, a black snake binding itself to each mech.

"What's going on?" Katherine asked with a slight look of fear, the redhead explaining, "Dark Snake Syndrome takes away vitality from both of our mechs during each standby phase. It starts at two hundred then doubles each turn. That means after your turn, we will each take in four hundred damage, making for a total of six hundred. In other words, if I'm unable to do anything by your next turn, we both lose and the arms are still up for grabs."

"So you've come to realize the position you're in," Katherine stated with a serious look on her face, "You noticed you have no chance of winning, so why not have it end in a draw?"

However, rather than showing respect, the blue-haired woman snickered and exclaimed, "Wow, I've never seen anyone so desperate! If you just forfeited, I would have at least given you credit for having common sense, but you're just trying to earn yourself a second go at this! That's hilarious!"

Scarlet took a deep breath and thought, 'Laugh all you like, but it doesn't change the fact that we're both likely to lose this duel,' the redhead feeling confident in her tactics.

But while Katherine may have been laughing, deep down, she was terrified. She knew that Scarlet was right. Sure, the monster in her hand was powerful, but it could not defeat all three monsters and deal damage to the redhead's vitality at the same time.

As if that was not enough, each snake bit into its respective mech at the beginning of Katherine's turn. Katherine's mech had its vitality reduced to one thousand while Scarlet went down to six hundred. But as the blue-haired woman drew her next card, her eyes widened as a big grin formed on her face.

'Yes!' she thought with much anticipation before exclaiming, "You are a moron for playing that card and now you're gonna find out why!"

"What?" Scarlet uttered as Katherine activated a spell called 'Blue Medicine'. The redhead stared in horror as the blue mech pulled out a bottle and a small wine glass, pouring a blue liquid from the bottle into the glass.

With that, the mech splashed the potion into its face as its vitality rose to fourteen hundred. Scarlet shook her head as Katherine grinned wickedly and said, "Surprised? You should be. Now my vitality is two hundred points too high for your ridiculous plan to work."

It did not end there as Katherine sacrificed her defending monsters in order to summon the powerful monster she had been saving since her first turn. In place of the two defending monsters, there stood a young woman dressed in a snow white mage outfit and sporting a crown. She also wielded a large chain mace with a ball made of ice and her name was 'Blizzard Princess'.

Scarlet at least now knew that her suspicions had been correct. This monster had twenty-eight hundred attack points and there was nothing Scarlet had right now that could possibly help her. But since Katherine did not know that, she chose to play it safe by targeting Red-Eyes Black Dragon, her princess swinging her mace around before sending the ball hard into the dragon and crushing him underneath.

Scarlet bit her lip as Katherine's turn came to a close, the snakes once again biting the mechs. Now the redhead's vitality was two hundred while Katherine's was back to one thousand. Since the spell would deal eight hundred damage the following turn, it was clear who would lose this duel. As such, when the Swords of Revealing Light left the field, Scarlet could not even rejoice the fact that she could attack again.

And as she drew her next card she let out a disappointed sigh. Just as she had expected, there was nothing that could help her. Katherine was right when she said that the redhead was stupid for activating such a risky spell and now she remembered why she had no intention of ever playing it.

With that in mind, Scarlet pressed her hand against her deck as her mech turned tail and fled from the area. The redhead bit her lower lip all the while and thought, 'Sorry, Morgan. I failed.'

Seeing all of this, Katherine's eyes lit up as she squealed, "YES! IN YOUR FACE! I RULE!" the blue-haired woman picking up the arms and sighing, "She should have just done that to begin with. Would have saved me so much time."

While all of this went on, Matt was looking around Ruby Swamp to find a metal head. Hopefully he would be able to succeed where his allies had failed. After all, one could only guess what Glen had planned for these parts.

However, considering Taylor of all soldiers had been sent here, Matt would very likely have a tough duel on his hands. After all, he had faced both her and Drake before and lost. But even so, there was no way he would fail this mission, especially since it was really important.

While looking through the swamp, a long tongue whipped out at his mech and latched onto it. The orange-haired man let out a sigh and stated, "It's just a frog. Not quite as threatening as a snake."

With that in mind, the man drew a white tiger aptly named 'The All-Seeing White Tiger' and had the feline pounce on the frog. This managed to scare the amphibian off as Matt sighed, "Well, good, I didn't have to kill anyone this time."

Taylor, meanwhile, had her mech caught in a spider's web. But as the bug crawled toward her with a hungry look in its eyes, the woman simply rolled hers and said, "You chose the wrong soldier to mess with," as she shifted her mech's lower body thus pressing the whip up against the silk.

As a reward for her incredible results for a newcomer, Glen had replaced her usual whip with a new thorny one that dealt twice as much damage. And since it was covered in thorns, it was able to cut open the web with incredible ease as Taylor grinned and summoned her Dark Blade to slice the spider into three large fragments.

"Well, I can't blame you for wanting someone as succulent and worthy as me," the purple-haired woman said with a wink, "but I'm off the menu. Besides, don't you know the most attractive creatures in a swamp can poison you?"

She then carried on as her metal detector was on high alert. With that in mind, a grin formed on her face as she squealed, "YAY! I FOUND THE HEAD!" but just as she had found it, she came face-to-face with Matt who had gotten his signal at exactly the same time.

"Hey, you look familiar," Taylor uttered as Matt certainly remembered her mech. As such, he wasted no time hitting the 'engage' button as the orbs were shot from his mech and a sphere formed around the two.

"Well, you certainly wasted no time," the woman sighed, "I feel kind of insulted, really. Your friend at least put up a decent fight when Drake and I fought her. All you did was destroy one monster."

Matt took a deep breath and replied, "Yeah, but you had Drake to help you out. This time, you're all alone," Taylor rolling her eyes.

Though deep down, the man knew she had a point, but he was not going to let that discourage him. If anything, that experience taught him to step up his game and that was exactly what he planned to do.

When Taylor drew her first hand, she grinned with anticipation. She could not wait until Matt's turn was over and she could use these against him. She just knew that no matter what the man had, she would be able to counter it.

Though as luck would have it, Matt had a significantly better hand than the ones he had in his last two duels with Drake. As such, he started his turn by activating a spell called 'Ground Collapse'. Taylor had to admit she was taken aback as his mech used its katana to rush forward and stab two of her monster spaces, both spaces now cracked.

"So you prevented me from having more than three monsters out at a time," the woman said with a smirk, "Not bad, but I don't think I'll need that many monsters to beat you."

"Don't act so high and mighty," Matt remarked as he summoned a monster in defence mode and ended his turn.

Taylor simply grinned as she started things off by activating a field spell called 'The Gates of the Dark World'. Matt gulped as as the entire area turned into a dark hallway with a gate appearing behind Taylor's mech and sealing them in.

The woman smirked and said, "Now all of my fiend type monsters get an attack boost of three hundred," before summoning a silver woman with hair that resembled snake tails and a dress. Her name was 'Snoww, Unlight of Dark World' and she had an attack power of seventeen hundred. Though thanks to Taylor's field spell, she now had two thousand as Matt was even more frightened.

The monster sent a burst of magic toward Matt's monster. This was revealed to be a figure skater dressed in purple and light-blue ninja garments named 'Blade Skater'. She had blades on her arms and an attack power of fourteen hundred and a defence of fifteen hundred.

But just as the blast of magic was about to strike her, Matt smirked and said, "Gotcha!" Taylor's eyes widening as he activated a quick-play spell card called 'The Reliable Guardian'. A large shield formed in the skater's hand and brought her defence up to twenty-two hundred as the magic was unable to damage the monster.

As if that was not bad enough, the magic also bounced off and hit Taylor's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-four hundred. The woman gritted her teeth as she could not believe what had just happened. This loser who had barely done a thing when she faced him had just gotten the drop on her.

"You shouldn't take me so lightly just because of one duel," Matt said with a grin, "You did a good job against me the last time we fought, but this time, I'm much more prepared."


	26. Chapter 26

So far, things were looking rather good as Matt had dealt the first blow to Taylor. But there was no way the woman would let this slide as she smirked and said, "Not bad, but let's see you counter this."

She then activated a spell called 'Lightning Vortex' as a grey zombie with bones for armour appeared. This was 'Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World' and he had an attack power of sixteen hundred. But it seemed like this would not matter as Taylor had her whip destroy him. In exchange for the card, bolts of lightning rained down from the sky and struck Blade Skater, the woman passing out and sinking into the ground.

"Too bad you couldn't have done that before your battle phase," Matt said with a shrug as Taylor grinned and added, "Well, it does prevent me from attacking you directly, but I still think it was worth it."

And at that exact moment, Beiige returned to the field as Taylor explained, "Oh, did I tell you? When Beiige is sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can special summon him to the field. Now I got two monsters," Beiige's attack power rising to nineteen hundred thanks to the field spell.

Matt's turn started up as he drew his next card and let out a disappointed sigh. He had managed such a good start and yet it seemed everything had come crashing down. Even so, the monster he had drawn at least had a useful effect and thus, he summoned it in defence mode.

Scarlet smirked and said, "I had a feeling that stunt you pulled last turn was all you had. Now all you can do is defend," Matt all the while thinking, 'Whatever. At least this monster will keep one of yours at bay.'

When Taylor drew her next card, she ignored it and seemed fixated on one monster in particular. It was a level seven monster, and now that she had two monsters, she could summon it with ease. And needless to say, that was exactly what she did.

She had her mech strike both of her monsters down with its whip as they vanished in a puff of smoke. And with that, a fearsome beast emerged, a black demon with large bull horns clad in silver armour. With a large sceptre in hand, this monster was 'Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World' and he had an attack power of twenty-five hundred. Though thanks to The Gates of Dark World, his power rose to twenty-eight hundred.

Matt should have been terrified, but deep down, he was slightly relieved that Taylor had done this. However, she figured he must have been scared out of his mind as she smirked and said, "You know what's really amazing? This isn't even my strongest monster."

The demon pointed his sceptre at the defending monster and revealed it to be a purple lizard with black stripes and a pair of antennae. This was 'Electric Lizard' and he only had a defence power of eight hundred.

Even so, Matt did not seem too intimidated as when the lizard was destroyed, its body let loose a burst of electricity. This covered Reign-Beaux as his body was frozen in place.

"What just happened?" Taylor asked as Matt grinned and explained, "When Electric Lizard is destroyed by a monster that isn't a zombie, the monster is paralysed and can't attack on the next turn. In other words, your monster's a sitting duck for the time being."

Taylor rolled her eyes and said, "So you've stalled me a bit. Big deal. I doubt you have anything that can stand up to this bad boy."

When Matt drew his next card, his eyes went wide at what he had drawn. It was a monster known as 'Beast of Talwar' and had an attack power of twenty-four hundred. Sure, that was not enough to defeat Reign-Beaux, but he had an equip card that would make it possible. However, he needed another monster to make this work and as such, he summoned a monster from his hand in defence mode and hoped that Taylor would not have a monster strong enough to destroy it.

It seemed luck was on her side as not only was Taylor's next card not a monster, but the one she did have in her hand was unbelievably weak. As such, she summoned her monster in defence mode and set a card face-down in her spell zone thus ending her turn.

Matt's eyes widened as he asked, "Wait, that's it?" the purple-haired woman sighing, "Yeah, you pretty much rendered me useless for this turn. Don't act so head-strong. I doubt whatever you have can possibly defeat my Reign-Beaux."

Before Matt drew his next card, he blinked and sighed, "I'm sorry, that name is really hard to take seriously. It sounds like 'rainbow'!" Taylor remarking, "For your information, all dark world monsters are named after colours! Reign-Beaux is the second-strongest, so his name represents seven colours."

"Wait, how is 'snow' a colour?" Matt asked as Taylor snapped, "JUST START YOUR TURN ALREADY!"

"Alright, alright," the orange-haired man replied as he drew his next card. Now he was ready to initiate his plan as his face-down card was revealed to be a rhino statue named 'Barrier Statue of The Drought'. His mech used its katana to slice the statue in half as he vanished in a cloud of smoke, soon to be replaced by Beast of Talwar.

This demon stood tall with his green skin, bat wings and twin sabres. However, Taylor did not look the least bit intimidated as she smirked and said tauntingly, "So you can destroy my defence monster more easily. Big deal."

However, she stopped herself when she remembered something Angela had told her. Normally when a duellist summons a weaker monster in attack mode, it means he has something up his sleeve, and Matt had just that as he equipped his beast with 'Lucky Iron Axe'. Since he already had two sabres, he simply replaced one of them with the axe as his attack power rose to twenty-nine hundred, Taylor's eyes and mouth wide open as she could not believe what she was seeing.

"Okay, where was this in our last duel!?" she exclaimed, "Seriously, I thought you were some pathetic loser with nothing but weak cards in his deck!"

"Yeah, you shouldn't have underestimated me," the man remarked as his beast charged toward Reign-Beaux and delivered an X-shaped slash to his mid section. His armour cracked open as blood spewed out, the demon falling on his back and sinking into the ground.

Taylor gritted her teeth in frustration as the demon struck her mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-three hundred. Taylor responded with her trap, a card known as 'The Transmigration Prophecy' and thus she was able to return two cards from her graveyard to her hand, and she chose to bring back Snoww and Beiige. Even so, things had certainly taken a turn for the better as Matt's turn came to a close.

Things seemed to at least look up to a certain degree when Taylor drew her next card. A wicked grin formed on her face as she said, "Well, you certainly caught me off-guard, but now this duel is back in my favour!"

On that note, the woman activated a spell called 'Offerings of the Doomed' as Matt's eyes widened. Beast of Talwar seemed possessed as his eyes widened, the demon's body exploding. The purple-haired woman then laughed and exclaimed, "Offerings of the Doomed destroys any monster I want! The only downside is that I skip my next draw phase, but that's a small price to pay!"

It seemed so as she summoned Snoww to the field and revealed her defending monster to be a grey lizard covered in red armour. His name was 'Scarr, Scout of Dark World' and he had an attack power of five hundred. Though it was not much, it hardly mattered when Taylor's opponent had nothing to defend himself with.

However, Matt blinked and asked, "Hold on, you mean to tell me 'scar' is a colour now?" Taylor groaning, "It takes a lot more understanding than your feeble brain can comprehend! Besides, you're in no position to be mocking my deck!"

Truer words could not have been spoken as Snoww sent a blast of magic into Matt's mech, bringing his vitality down to nine hundred. Scarr then leapt at his mech and struck it down the middle as his vitality was reduced to one hundred. All Taylor had to do was damage him once and it would be over.

"Well, whatcha gonna do now?" Taylor asked with a cute grin, "Your powerhouse is gone, I have two monsters and you have barely enough vitality to possibly survive another attack. You can likely defeat my Scarr and damage me that way, but that's not much of an improvement, now, is it? You might as well just quit."

Matt took a deep breath and replied, "Well, I can't deny that things are certainly looking bad for me. But even so, I'm not quitting. I'll see this duel to the very end."

Taylor shrugged and replied, "Well, if you don't mind having your mech blown up, be my guest."

The orange-haired man took a deep breath as he expected his next card would be of no help to him. However, what he drew next was actually a decent card, namely is 'Sasuke Samurai Number Four'. Matt's eyes went wide, but his excitement quickly died when he remembered what happened the last time he used this monster.

He tried to destroy one of Drake's monsters with it but ended up calling the wrong side of the coin. As a result, Sasuke Samurai was destroyed and Matt was easy pickings. But right now, he would lose either way and as such, he decided to take a chance.

With that in mind, the man summoned the yellow robot as he pointed his spear forward, Taylor laughing and exclaiming, "You are really desperate to deliver one final blow to me, aren't you!?" then wiping a tear, she added, "Well, go ahead. You did surprise me earlier, so you've earned it."

"Well, if you insist," Matt replied with a shrug as the samurai charged at Scarr and pierced the lizard's armour with his spear. Scarr fell hard on his back and sank into the ground as Sasuke jabbed his spear into Taylor's mech, bringing her vitality down to nineteen hundred.

"Sweet, now I can use his effect, not that I need it," the woman said with a grin as she added 'Zure, Knight of Dark World' to her hand.

With Matt's turn at an end, the man took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, let's hope I can at least get results from this,' as Taylor chose not to lay down any cards from her hand. Seeing as Snoww as more than powerful enough to finish the job, she figured summoning another monster would be pointless.

However, when the Snoww sent a blast of magic toward Sasuke, his spear managed to hold off the attack as a big coin formed in the hand of Matt's mech. Taylor's eyes went wide as Matt explained, "Probably should have mentioned this sooner. When Sasuke Samurai Number Four is in battle, I flip a coin during the damage step. If I call it right and the monster has a higher attack power, both monsters are destroyed and no damage is applied. You should have summoned another monster."

Taylor's eye twitched as the coin was flipped, Matt exclaiming, "Come on heads!" and unlike last time, the coin landed on that exact side this time and with that, Sasuke's body blew up after taking in the magic strike while the rest bounced off of his spearhead and struck Snoww, the demon falling on her back and sinking into the ground.

Matt breathed a sigh of relief as Taylor gritted her teeth and exclaimed, "Whatever! You still can't possibly stand up to this!" the woman summoning Zure as the demonic knight stood tall and had his attack risen to twenty-one hundred.

Even if she had not summoned the more powerful monster, Matt was still certain that whatever he drew next would not be enough. He was just happy to have lasted this long as he drew his next card. But once again he was surprised by his incredible luck as the card he had drawn was 'Monster Reborn'.

With that in mind, the man grinned and exclaimed, "I must be the luckiest man alive right now! Get a load of this!" the man activating his spell and using it to revive Beast of Talwar.

"No..." Taylor uttered, her eyes twitching as the demon charged at Zure. The knight attempted to fight back with his sword only for the demon to slice it in half with one sabre and stab him through the chest with the other.

As Zure fell on his back and decayed into nothing, Beast of Talwar struck Taylor's mech for the second time, her vitality now reduced to sixteen hundred. And even with her field spell, there was no way she could possibly respond to this.

Matt could have used this chance to summon the other monster in his hand and add to the damage, but now that he stood a chance, he could not risk being attacked, especially when said monster only had five hundred attack points. As such, he summoned the monster in defence mode and ended his turn.

Now Taylor was the one who was scared. What could she possibly do? Beiige was the only monster she had right now and he was nowhere near strong enough to defeat Beast of Talwar. But even so, she knew there were at least a few cards in her deck that could help her and simply hoped she would draw at least one of those.

And her luck could not have been any better as her eyes sparkled at the sight of her next card. Now her victory was guaranteed, especially since Matt had nothing to counter this with.

"Well, you managed to delay the inevitable, but now your time has come," the woman activating a spell called 'Mind Control'.

Matt was actually familiar with this card as he uttered, "Oh no," Taylor's vitality dropping to eight hundred as Beast of Talwar clutched onto his head and let out a loud cry of agony. After a few seconds, his eyes turned red as he flew over to the purple-haired woman's side of the field.

It was official. This duel was over as Taylor summoned Beiige and had the possessed beast attack attack Matt's defending monster. This monster was a short robotic samurai with three blue spikes on his head to represent a ponytail and a dagger in his hand. This was the only 'Sasuke Samurai' that did not have a number.

Since his defence was a meagre eight hundred, he was easy pickings as Beast of Talwar sliced him in two. And Beiige put an end to the duel by jabbing his spear into Matt's mech, bringing his vitality down to zero.

The orange-haired man let out a sigh and said, "Well, at least I came close this time," as he propelled himself out of his seat and flew away from the area.

Taylor wiped sweat off of her forehead and groaned, "Damn, that should not have been so hard!" before shrugging and sighing, "Oh well, I guess it does make for a more satisfying victory."

With that, the woman picked up the metal head with a proud grin on her face. She had succeeded in yet another mission and happily flew back toward the base.

Meanwhile, Damien was looking around the desert, not knowing that Drake was also in that area. Though like last time when he and Scarlet had to find a foot here, it was not so easy. For all he knew, the part could be in another pyramid, and if that was the case, picking it up would be a challenge in and of itself.

Regardless, the man carried on but stayed high above the ground to avoid the giant scorpions crawling around and the possible sand worm attack. At least this way, the only animals he had to worry about were vultures and they only ate whatever was dead.

Drake was also looking around as he could not have been more thankful for air conditioning. Of all the locations, Gem Desert was his least favourite. He just knew that without his mech, he would likely die in this place even if the animals did not get to him.

At this moment, his metal detector picked up on something buried beneath the sand nearby. With that in mind, the blue-haired man flew over to a particular spot and had his mech clear the sand away, revealing the torso he had been looking for.

However, as his sights were focused on the metal body, he had failed to notice Damien's mech flying nearby. The black-haired man's eyes widened as he noticed the torso and who stood before it. Sure, he may have only fought Drake once, but he would never forget the mech's design.

With this in mind, the man took a deep breath and thought, 'That's right, I actually know how to use my deck now. I may actually be able to beat him.'

The man flew over to the black mech as Drake looked up, but it was too late as Damien had already hit the button to initiate a duel. But while Damien may have known he was facing Drake, the blue-haired man did not realize who he was face-to-face with and as such, he simply saw this as another Crystal City soldier to deal with.

However, he was a tad alarmed by the fact that his opponent had four thousand vitality, but even so, this hardly meant a thing to him as he waited for his opponent to make the first move. Damien, all the while, had his eyes narrowed as he thought, 'My results against you last time may have been a fluke, but this time, I'm good enough to beat you.'

With that in mind, the man drew six cards and looked over his hand closely. Now that he knew the rules, he would not make the same amateurish mistakes he made the first time they fought.

The man placed a card face-down in his spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode. This was all he could do for the time being and he was fine with that.

Drake said nothing as he drew a sixth card of his own. While the monsters in his hand were not particularly strong, he saw one particular monster he could make good use of. Seeing this, he set one card face-down in his spell zone and summoned cyborg with no flesh but rather exposed organs. This monster was 'Jinzo Number Seven' and he had an attack power of five hundred.

Damien blinked and thought, 'That's all he has? Why's he playing such a weak monster? I know he has better cards than this.'

However, all became clear when the cyborg raced forward and leapt over Damien's defending monster. He then sent a hard punch into the red mech as its vitality dropped to thirty-five hundred, Jinzo leaping back to his side of the field.

"Before you say anything, I know I'm taking a big risk with this," Drake stated, "But I know I have the vitality to spare, so don't you worry about me."

Damien narrowed his eyelids and thought, 'Over-confident much? You may have damaged my mech, but you've left yourself vulnerable.'

The man then drew his next card and felt relieved. As if Drake's move had not left him vulnerable enough, Damien had just drawn 'Flame Cerebrus'. With that in mind, the black-haired man wasted no time having his mech gun down his defending monster as he replaced it with the three-headed dog.

Damien actually had another plan as he figured he could deal more damage by bringing back the monster he had used as a sacrifice. As such, he activated 'Monster Reborn', but just as this was about to work, Drake revealed his trap card.

Damien blinked as the trap was 'Dark Deal', Drake explaining, "Now at the cost of one thousand vitality, the effect of your spell changes to you discarding one card from your hand," the black-haired man frowning and picking a card he figured he would not use.

Even so, Damien's chances were certainly looking up as Drake's vitality dropped to four thousand, Damien stating, "By the way, summoning this monster wasn't the only thing I was planning on doing this turn."

Drake's eyes went wide as Damien proceeded to activate 'Polymerization'. A humanoid plant with buds representing its torso, hands and head took form. This was 'Elemental Hero Knospe'.

But this monster would not remain on the field for long as both he and Flame Cerebrus merged together as a light shone briefly. Once the light faded, a new monster had taken form. This was a coal-black man clad in orange and yellow armour named 'Elemental Hero Nova Master' and he had an attack power of twenty-six hundred.

"I see, so you were going to hit me with both your sacrificial monster and your fusion monster," Drake stated, "Not a bad strategy."

However, he was rather irritated now as the hero charged at Jinzo, his hand bursting into flame. He then proceeded to punch the cyborg hard and send him flying into Drake's mech, bringing his vitality down to nineteen hundred.

'Wow, either I've gotten much better or he's gotten worse,' Damien thought as Drake took a deep breath. He knew this was coming, but he had not counted on his opponent summoning someone so powerful so soon.


	27. Chapter 27

Things were looking shockingly good for Damien as he drew another card thanks to Nova Master's effect and thought, 'Is this really the same guy I faced on my first day? He summoned an insanely weak monster just so he could deal a tiny bit of damage. Hardly seems worth it if you ask me.'

But when Drake drew his next card, he already had a sure-fire strategy as he had a spell card in his hand that could change everything. As such, he wasted no time as he activated 'Card Destruction' and banished his entire hand.

Damien groaned when the monster in his hand was replaced by a weaker one. But right now, he wondered if Drake would get good results as the blue-haired man drew a new hand, his eyes going wide when he saw exactly what he had drawn. There were two particular cards that he knew could help him greatly and he intended to use them both.

The first thing Drake did was activate 'Monster Reborn', Damien now worried when he revived one of the monsters he had discarded. This particular monster was a woman who's head was covered in a red, yellow, orange and blue bonnet, all four making her head look like a flower. She also wore a pink gown and went by the name 'Sorciere De Fleur'. To make matters worse, she had an attack power of twenty-nine hundred, meaning Damien was in trouble.

However, it seemed there was even more going on as Drake explained, "Just to let you know, when Sorciere De Fleur is summoned, I can pick one monster in your graveyard and take control of it, and I choose your Flame Cerebrus."

Damien's eyes actually widened as his three-headed dog was summoned to Drake's side of the field and let out a loud roar. Drake ended his main phase by summoning a monster in defence mode as Damien was at least prepared for this, the black-haired man revealing his trap card.

The card in question was 'Acid Trap Hole' and it destroyed any defending monster with less than twenty-one hundred defence points once said monster was summoned. Drake's monster was a red insect with grey arms and large purple hands named 'Minar'. Since the monster only had seven hundred and fifty defence points, it was easy pickings as a small pit of acid formed underneath him, the bug falling into it and turning into bone.

However, Drake was not the least bit alarmed as Minar's hands rose up from the acid and pierced Damien's mech, the black-haired man now terrified as this brought his vitality down to twenty-five hundred. His eye twitched as he asked, "What was that?"

"Well, when Minar is destroyed by an opponent's card effect," Drake explained, "He deals one thousand damage to the opponent's vitality. Honestly, I didn't think you'd actually have something like that. Glad I took the chance."

Now Damien's confidence had left him. It was as if Drake had simply drawn out a powerful monster just so he could use this and turn everything around. And this was certainly bad news as Sorciere pointed a wand with a rose on top toward Nova Master, releasing a twister consisting of twenty-nine pedals. The hero tried to burn them but found himself overpowered as the pedals covered him in cuts, the man falling to his knees and collapsing, his body sinking into the ground.

Three pedals remained and struck Damien's mech, bringing his vitality down do twenty-two hundred. And he knew it would be one hundred soon as he braced himself.

But when he did so, he noticed nothing had happened as Drake explained, "There is one downside to Sorciere's effect. The monster I revive can't attack you directly."

Damien breathed a sigh of relief, only now he was starting to wonder if he should just quit. Right now, he only had one card in his hand, a weak monster named 'Giga-Tech Wolf'. Sure, he could defend himself with it, but that was all he could do. And even if he did, he would still lose, and he did not wish to have his mother's old mech destroyed.

But while he remained still, his mech said, "Your turn. Draw your next card, please," Damien breathing heavily as his eyes were wide open. This was rare for him, but this was a serious moment. If he didn't draw some kind of miracle card, he was doomed for sure.

"Hey, I'm waiting," Drake said, "Are you gonna do something?" Damien taking a deep breath as the mech said, "Your turn. Draw your next card, please."

"I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME, DAMMIT!" Damien spat as Drake's eyes widened. He recognized that voice and asked, "Wait, are you Damien?"

"Um, yeah, but how do you know my name?" the black-haired man remarked, the mech once again repeating its statement while Drake said, "So you're the one who ruined my perfect record. I've been waiting for my moment to get revenge on you. I'll admit, you have improved greatly since we last duelled, but you're still not good enough."

Damien took a deep breath and remarked, "Yes I am and I'm going to prove it," the man drawing his next card as he breathed heavily. Sure, it was not a guaranteed advantage, but the card he had drawn was 'Pot of Greed', and he wasted no time using it.

The next two cards he had drawn were not great, but at the very least, this would keep him in the duel just a bit longer. As such, the man placed a card face-down in his spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode.

"For your sake, that had better be a genius move," Drake said with a serious look as he drew his next card and set it face-down in his spell zone. Since the only monsters in his hand were weak, he summoned one in defence mode and said, "Well, looks to me like your time has run out."

With all said and done, Flame Cerebrus unleashed three fireballs toward the defending monster, revealing it to be 'The Fabled Ganashia'. Needless to say, the elephant stood no chance as his body was turned into ash.

But just as all seemed lost, Damien revealed his trap card, one known as 'Hero Signal'. Drake's eyes widened as Damien used the trap's effect to dig up Stratos from his deck and summon him to the field. One could only guess why he specifically chose him, but it hardly mattered as Sorciere made quick work of him with her pedals.

"So you kept your defence up," Drake stated, "Not bad, but all you're doing is delaying the inevitable."

Damien then took a deep breath as Drake's turn came to a close, the blue-haired man thinking, 'Come on, Mom, don't let his words be true.'

And when he drew his next card, a light smile formed on his face as he could not have asked for better. He had drawn 'Parallel World Fusion' and this was exactly what he needed.

Damien wasted no time as he activated the spell, Drake's eyes going wide. Knospe and Stratos both appeared as a swirling vortex formed, the two fusing together to form 'Elemental Hero Great Tornado'. Now Drake had a reason to worry as the hero unleashed a gust of wind upon both of his monsters, cutting their attack power in half. As a result, Sorciere now had an attack power of fourteen hundred and fifty while Cerebrus had one thousand and fifty.

"As I told you," Damien said with a serious look in his eyes, "I'm good enough to defeat you now and I'm going to prove it!"

Drake's eyes widened as Damien summoned his Giga-Tech Wolf, a robotic wolf with two mechanical tails and metal bat wings taking form. Sure, he only had twelve hundred attack points, but that was more than enough.

Drake gritted his teeth as Great Tornado sent a huge gust of wind at Sorciere. The woman let out a glass-shattering scream as the tornado sent her flying into the roof of the sphere, her body falling, hitting the sand and sinking into it. The wind then struck Drake's mech as his vitality dropped to five hundred and fifty.

Things only got worse for him when Giga-Tech Wolf pounced on Cerebrus, using his fangs to rip open the cerberus' back and devour his organs. With the dog now dead, the wolf pounced on Drake's mech and bit into its shoulder, reducing its vitality to four hundred.

Damien took a deep breath and thought, 'I can't be too careful. He might have something planned.'

And it certainly seemed so when Drake revealed his trap card. It was called 'Skull Lair', Drake stating, "Well, now I have enough monsters in my graveyard for this to be worth it."

With that in mind, the blue-haired man removed all eight of the cards in his graveyard from play. And when that happened, his mech released an ominous gas from its hands that covered Great Tornado, the man crying in agony as his clothing and flesh corroded and left nothing but his skeleton.

"The best part of this trap," Drake explained, "it's that it's permanent. That means every time a card is sent to my graveyard, there's a chance I can use its effect again, though honestly, I don't think I'll need it a second time."

Damien's eyes were wide in horror as the blue-haired man drew his next card. And he was in luck as the monster he had drawn was 'Darklord Edeh Arae'. With that in mind, the man wasted no time having his mech slice open his defending monster as it vanished in a cloud of smoke, soon replaced by the demon with twenty-three hundred attack points.

Giga-Tech Wolf growled as the demon soared toward him and rammed his fist into the mechanical canine. With that, the wolf flew hard into Damien's mech and brought his vitality down to eleven hundred. And with no other cards in the man's hand, what could he possibly draw at this point that could help him?

'Alright, Damien, you've lost,' the black-haired man thought to himself, 'Just surrender. Remember, your mech cannot be replaced.'

All the while, Drake took a deep breath and stated, "You know, you actually have proven yourself worthy of being a soldier. So don't let this get to you. But I'd much rather you face me to the bitter end. A true soldier never surrenders. I know I did when you knocked the bomb off my back, but I know I shouldn't have done that."

On one hand, Damien knew these words should have meant nothing to him as they were coming from the enemy. And yet strangely enough, hearing them inspired him to try harder and as such, the man took a deep breath and drew his next card, regardless of how much the odds were stacked against him.

Just as he suspected, the card he drew was a monster that would be of no help to him. But rather than summoning him in defence mode, he instead chose to be defeated by Drake's monster and whatever else he could summon combined. As such, he summoned 'Elemental Hero Neos Alius' in attack mode.

"Why would you do that?" Drake asked, "You know your monster's weaker, right?"

"Yes," Damien remarked, "but I figured if I'm gonna lose this duel, your mech should be the one to take mine down."

And in another shocking turn of events, Damien had Neos charged toward Edeh, both monsters sending their fists forward. Ultimately, Neos was vastly overpowered and was sent flying into Damien's mech. Its vitality dropped to seven hundred as the black-haired man's turn came to a close.

"Alright, I'm ready," Damien said as Drake stared for a few seconds and slowly drew his next card. In all his years, he had never seen a soldier accept a fate like this, but at the same time, he could not help but find it admirable.

The man then noticed the monster he drew was 'Ancient Brain'. He only had an attack power one thousand, so if Damien had placed Neos in defence mode, he would have survived the turn for sure. But after making such a sacrifice, Drake did not have the heart to point this out as he said, "Well, you wanted my mech to finish this. So be it."

On that note, the blue-haired man had his mech turn its arms into blades as it flew toward Damien's mech. Once close enough, it delivered an onslaught of slashes, Damien's vitality dropping to zero as the black-haired man ejected himself from his seat and took off on his jet pack. But while he had accepted this, he could not help but look back with a pained expression as his mech exploded and broke into tiny pieces.

'I'm sorry, Mom,' Damien thought, 'I don't know what compelled me to do that.'

All of the duels were now over as the Crystal City soldiers returned to the base, all five rather disappointed by the outcome. Though Damien felt the worst as he knew Morgan would have a field day if she knew that he allowed his mother's mech to be destroyed.

New Domino's soldiers, on the other hand, were more than happy with the outcome. Sure, there had been close calls, but all five had succeeded in retrieving the parts. This would certainly save Glen a lot of trouble.

And when the five arrived, Glen grinned and exclaimed, "Well done, soldiers! I gotta say, you've done an excellent job!"

"Thank you, sir," Drake replied with a bow of his head as Taylor stated, "Surprisingly, my opponent was pretty tough."

"Seems Drake's was too," a repairman stated, "His vitality was brought down to four hundred."

"Really," Glen remarked, his eyes wide open as Drake sighed, "Yeah, I faced that guy who stopped me from blowing up the Crystal City base, Damien. Though he was piloting a much different mech and had some really impressive tactics. He found a way to use two fusion monsters against me even though he only had one Polymerization card."

"What kind of fusion monsters?" Katherine asked as Drake replied, "Both were elemental heroes."

Katherine gasped and remarked, "That's the guy who beat me and Katie along with someone piloting a pink mech!" Drake thinking, 'Must have been Cindy.'

"I think I've heard reports about him from others," Glen replied, "Bruce said he was beaten by someone with elemental heroes in his deck. Did he have more than that?" Drake replying, "Yes, he had a wide variety of different monster types. Most soldiers stick with a theme, but he didn't."

Taylor blinked and said, "Sounds unpredictable, I guess," Angela uttering, "Allen was beaten by that same soldier."

Glen took a deep breath and asked, "What exactly did his mech look like?" Drake trying to think as he said, "It was probably one of the most complex designs I've ever seen. It had this very buff design and was red with a bit of white on its shoulders. The only other major standout I can think of is that it had machine guns attached to its wrists."

"It can't be," the general uttered as Taylor asked, "You know this mech?" Glen nodding his head and replying, "Yes, that very mech terrorized my father back when he was general. The pilot of that very mech almost defeated him."

Aadil's eyes went wide as he asked, "That must have been one powerful soldier," Glen replying, "To Crystal City, she was a hero. Her name was Emma Lander."

All five soldiers gasped at the sound of that. Emma's legacy seemed to have carried onto other cities as even they knew her name.

"So Damien must be her son," Drake uttered as Glen nodded and said, "Honestly, I'm even more proud of you for defeating him. My father actually came just as close to losing to that mech as you did. And since it's old, we'll never see it again, so you've done us a huge favour."

Drake gave an army salute and replied, "Thank you, sir," Glen nodding and saying, "Well, I'm off to find a use for these parts. Go enjoy yourselves. You've all earned it."

With that in mind, all but Drake grinned and exclaimed, "ORIGAMI TIME!" Drake saying, "Yeah, you all go have fun," Katherine pouting and saying, "Yeah, you guys go on ahead."

"Of course," Taylor said before winking at Katherine, the woman taking off with Aadil and Angela.

Katherine noticed Drake's expression and asked, "Are you okay?" the blue-haired man nodding and replying, "Yeah. I just can't believe I defeated the son of the legendary Emma."

"Well, I can!" the woman replied with a grin, "Because you're amazing!" the blue-haired man shrugging his shoulders and saying nothing in response to that."

Katherine then let out a sigh and said, "I know this is sudden, but I have something to ask you," Drake turning to her and saying, "Okay. I'm all ears."

The woman put on a serious look and gazed into the man's eyes as she said, "Drake, I really like you. I mean, ever since that day we were first assigned together, I've always had feelings for you. I know I'm not the greatest soldier. In fact, when we fought together, you pretty much did all the work, but I know details like that don't matter to you anyway. So I was wondering if we could go out some time."

Drake stared silently, his eyes and mouth wide open as Katherine blinked and waved her hand in his face, saying, "Hello, Earth to Drake," the man blinking and shaking his head before uttering, "Wow, I had no idea."

"So, would you like to go out with me?" the woman asked, "I mean, I know we can't leave the base, but we could always go for a romantic stroll through the base or take a dip in the pool or rest in the hot tub."

"Look, Katherine," Drake replied, "You're a nice woman and I think you're a fine soldier, and like you said, skills on the battlefield really don't matter to me. But if I ever start a relationship with anyone, I want it to be with someone I truly love and I just don't see you that way."

Katherine nodded and replied, "Oh, that's okay. I understand," light tears welling up in her eyes as Drake asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine!" the woman exclaimed as she raced off from the area, tears rolling down her cheeks. She could not believe it. She had spent so long trying to muster up the courage to ask him out and after all of that, Drake still refused.

The man let out a sigh and groaned, "I succeeded in my mission. So why don't I feel good about it?"

During this time, Morgan had tears of her own as she whined, "COME ON, FIVE PARTS AND I COULDN'T EVEN GET ONE!?" Scarlet sighing, "With all due respect, ma'am, you're acting really childish for a general."

Morgan ignored her words and glared at Damien, barking, "AND YOU! YOU HAD YOUR MOTHER'S MECH DESTROYED! I wouldn't have minded if you surrendered! At least the others can have their mechs rebuilt!"

"Look, I'm sorry," Matt uttered as Cindy whimpered, "I barely stood a chance!" Scarlet sighing, "Oh, you probably did better than I did."

Morgan then took a deep breath and said, "Alright, I've gotten that out of my system. I should be fine now," Steven uttering, "If it makes a difference, I actually came really close to winning," Matt adding, "So did I."

Morgan nodded and said, "Good job, Steven," before pointing at Matt and growling, "I expect better from you!"

Damien, however, was too upset right now to even care about Morgan's attitude. He still could not believe he had allowed such a thing to happen. Deep down, he felt that the general had all the right to call him out on that.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "I'll be in my room," before taking off, his usual mellow look back on his face as Morgan blinked and asked, "Was I too harsh?"

"Let me talk to him," Scarlet said as she took off, Steven asking, "Okay, seriously, what's going on between those two?" Morgan remarking, "You really haven't heard?"

Scarlet soon caught up with Damien just as he was about to reach his room and rested a hand on his shoulder. The man turned as she gave him a sweet smile.

The man looked down with shame as Scarlet sighed, "So you lost. It's not the end of the world. You lost before and you managed okay. Besides, you were up against Drake. No one has managed to beat him yet. It's amazing you came as close as you did."

"Still, I lost Mom's mech," Damien replied, "How can I even look at her when the time comes for me to join her up in heaven? She'll probably shake her head in disappointment. I knew I was gonna lose. I should have just quit."

Hearing this, Scarlet gritted her teeth and clenched her hand into a fist. Then without warning, she proceeded to send a hard punch into Damien's face, sending him flying into the wall. His eyes were wide open as his mouth twitched.

"Seriously, you're still doing that!?" Damien exclaimed as Scarlet uttered, "Sorry."

"Actually, I did kinda need that," the man replied with a light smile, "This is war, after all. It was for the best that I fight to the bitter end."

Scarlet smiled and said, "Still, I probably shouldn't have hit you that hard," Damien chuckling as the two shared a brief kiss. However, their eyes widened when they heard the sound of a camera clicking.

The two slowly turned and saw Morgan standing there with said camera, both freaking out as she laughed and said, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

"Don't do things like that," Damien groaned as the general ignored his words and stated, "It's great to see you with a positive attitude, because I have something I need to discuss with you."

The general signalled him to follow her to her office as the man nodded. He and Scarlet shared a quick hug before he headed off.

Damien was then seated in Morgan's office as she said, "I'll admit I overreacted a bit. It's just that I'm scared to think of what the New Domino general might be planning with those parts. At least we do have two, so it's all bad."

"But it doesn't change the fact that our strongest mech is gone," Damien sighed as Morgan replied, "Well, yes, that will be a problem for a while. I do have a solution in mind, but until I'm able to use it, you'll have to settle for one of the low ranking mechs."

The man looked down as Morgan added, "I know what you're thinking, and you might not believe it, but Emma and I were best friends during the war. There are government files on you, but that's the real reason I knew who you were the moment I saw you."

Damien's eyes shot wide open. Sure, Morgan was older than he was, but she did not look nearly as old as his mother did. When his parents died, they were each in their late fifties. Just how old was Morgan?

The general knew he was thinking about this as she said, "Hey, hard as it may be to believe, it is possible for someone like me to be best friends with an older woman," Damien nodding as she added, "She was also our general."

"Now I'm even more confused," Damien sighed as Morgan stated, "It is true most generals don't consider their soldiers to be friends, but Emma was different. She treated us all like a family. Sure, she was hard on us, but she would always do nice things for us every now and then. Though of course she did so without overstepping her boundaries."

Damien nodded as the general added, "I was her top soldier, but she always saw me as a friend. We both understood each-other more than anyone else did. She knew me better than my family did."

"That's amazing," the man replied, "but why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because now you know I'm not bullshitting you when I say I know exactly how Emma would feel about your actions today," the general stated as Damien nodded and said, "That makes sense."

"Anyway, I can guarantee that your mother is not ashamed of you," Morgan stated, "In fact, she's probably glad that you stuck through to the end."

"Really?" Damien asked as the woman nodded and replied, "Trust me, that is how she always went about her duels. Despite her track record, she didn't always win, not even after she was promoted to general status. In fact, out of the thirty-seven duels she partook in, she lost thirteen."

"Wow," Damien uttered, "I mean, that's not a super high percentage, but it's definitely high for the best soldier in the army," Morgan nodding and saying, "Yeah, and you wouldn't believe it, but I've lost the same number of duels as her. My goal is to make sure I never surpass that."

"Definitely a good goal to have," Damien stated as the general sighed, "Whenever the odds were stacked against her, even when she knew her next card would not be enough to save her, she always stood her ground and never gave up. I'm sure that up in heaven, she's smiling at you right now."

"But when she lost, the mech could be rebuilt," Damien protested as Morgan said, "Trust me, even if it couldn't be rebuilt, she still would have done it. She told me so herself."

Currently, Morgan was reminiscing about all those times. She even remembered a time when both she and Emma had fought in a team duel. Both were down to one hundred vitality while their opponents still have more than one thousand each. However, Emma had pulled out a true miracle and fused two monsters together to form a hero with blue spandex and golden armour covering his arms, legs and upper body. His name was 'Elemental Hero Plasma Vice'.

With this monster, she managed to overtake her opponents to strike down one of them, leaving the next one for Morgan to finish. As it just so happened, Morgan had the setup necessary to summon a demonic man with black and green armour and big bat wings named 'Destiny Hero Dogma'. With his attack power of thirty-four hundred, it was easy for her to finish off the other soldier as his monster only had twenty-two hundred attack points.

After the duel, Morgan took a deep breath and asked, "Did you know you'd summon that monster?" Emma having her mech shake its head as she replied, "Nope. If anything, I thought we'd both lose."

"Then why did you keep going?" Morgan remarked as Emma grinned and replied, "Because I refuse to surrender. Even if my mech could never be rebuilt, I'd keep fighting even if it meant my baby would be destroyed."

Back in present time, Morgan smiled and said, "Anyway, don't let this get to you too much. I'm sure the next time you face Drake, you'll be ready."

"Thank you," Damien replied with a light smile, "I'm actually glad you told me all of that," the man taking his leave.

But while all was fine among Damien and his friends, the same could not be said for the parts they had. Once nightfall came around and everyone was sound asleep, Felicity had broken into a locked room where the shoulder and chest were being kept and took hold of them with a big magnet. She had a light smile on her face while singing to herself, "I'm taking home some great big robot parts. Won't General Glen be so proud of me?"

She then walked to the hanger where a rope was attached to one of the mechs, the woman pulling on it until the magnet and the parts were in the area and attached to the mech. With all said and done, the white-haired woman climbed into the mech and took off before anyone could spot her.


	28. Chapter 28

The following morning, Glen awoke to see that Felicity had brought him the last two parts he needed. The man grinned at the sight of this and said, "Wow, that woman is a miracle worker."

With that, he called in all of his mechanics as they assembled together, the general saying, "Alright, you see these parts? These are the most powerful mech parts in existence. When combined together, they will make for the most powerful mech the world has ever seen."

One mechanic started to drool at the sight of it as another next to him said, "Now, Harold, calm yourself."

The top mechanic nodded his head and said, "I can handle this," Glen remarking, "No, I want you all to put your current projects on hold until this one is finished. I want it completed as soon as possible."

The workers turned and stared at the general as he nodded, the top mechanic saying, "That's a good call. Alone, it would have taken me a week. If we're all working together, it can take us less than two days."

"Wonderful," Glen replied with a smirk, "Oh, and keep this a secret from everyone else. I want it to be a surprise."

During this time, Damien was having a simple breakfast with his friends. However, it might not last long as today seemed like a busy one. It seemed every second, a group of soldiers was being called to the office.

Soon enough, Scarlet and Cindy were both called as both smiled at one-another. Damien had a light smile of his own as he said, "Good luck, not that you'll need it," Scarlet giving the man a peck on the cheek.

Matt was also sent off, and of all people, he had been teamed up with Steven. He figured it was only a matter of time since the green-haired man had been promoted, though, so he had no problem with this.

However, of all the soldiers, Damien was shockingly the only one not called to Morgan's office when everyone else took off. He figured this might have been due to the fact that he had been relegated to a mech with less than fifteen hundred vitality.

Though it seemed his suspicions were wrong as just when it seemed he would have the day off, the intercom came on as Morgan said, "Oh, silly me. I almost forgot. Damien, I'd like you to come to my office too."

Damien was rather confused as the woman had said this in a rather childish tone. Sure, she was not the most serious general on the planet. In fact, one could argue she was the most childish, but even she never treated assignments like a fun past time.

Whatever the case, the man soon arrived as Morgan smiled and said, "Don't bother taking a seat. We're not gonna be staying in my office any longer."

Now the man was confused but figured he had no choice. As such, he shrugged his shoulders and followed her out of the office. But there was one thing on his mind after they left.

"Hey, where's your new secretary?" he asked as Morgan sighed and pulled out a note Felicity had left behind out of her pocket. According to the note, the white-haired woman had discovered her new calling and left to follow that.

"Wow, one day on the job and she already wants a new line of work," Damien said with a smirk as Morgan sighed, "I think I liked you better when you couldn't emote."

Soon enough, the woman had gone to the pool room as asked, "Wanna join me for a swim?" Damien's eyes widening as he remarked, "Okay, first of all, I'm dating Scarlet! Secondly, you're almost twice my age!"

Morgan narrowed her eyelids and sighed, "Kids these days, always with their heads in the gutter," Damien retorting, "I'M TWENTY-ONE! And besides, you're more of a kid than I am."

The general simply laughed in response to this as she entered the change room, jokingly winked at him and cooed, "You can join me if you'd like."

Damien's body tensed up as he rushed into the men's change room, Morgan breaking out into hysterics. Sure, she may have been the general, but she enjoyed messing with people.

Soon enough, both were enjoying a nice swim. Damien eventually got over the fact that the only other person in the pool was his boss as he could not help but feel impressed with himself. Despite Scarlet not being there with him, he managed to swim really well.

But at the same time, he could not help but wonder what Morgan wanted with him. This would be made clear when she asked him to join her in the hot tub.

As both soaked up the steaming water, Morgan grinned and said, "I feel like I should tell you why I made you join the army," Damien nodding and replying, "Well, that was on my mind when I first joined, but after two days, I just figured it was in your nature."

Morgan snickered and replied, "Look, I may be quite possibly the least mature person here, but I don't normally force people into the army. And believe it or not, your heritage isn't the reason I made you join either."

"But that was the exact reason you gave me," Damien remarked, "You said I had to join because it was in my blood," Morgan shaking her head and stating, "That was to motivate you. No, the reason I had you join was because your mother truly believed you would contribute greatly to our cause."

"So Mom decided this?" the man asked as Morgan nodded and explained, "Just as she and your father were about to die, she called me up and insisted I bring you into the army. The ultimate deciding factor was that no one else would hire you."

"So she never truly had faith in me," Damien sighed, "I'd feel offended, but even I don't think I could have gotten better than this."

After a few seconds, Damien asked, "Here's something I've wondered for a while. What is our cause, exactly? Why are we at war with New Domino?"

Morgan smirked and replied, "That is a good question. I could just tell you or I could play a little game with you."

"Oh god, where are you going with this?" Damien retorted, his eyes going wide as Morgan laughed and said, "I meant a practice duel. If you can beat me in one, I'll tell you exactly how all of this started."

"And if I lose?" the man asked as the general smirked and said, "You'll have to stare at a photo of me in the nude for ten minutes," Damien's eyes and mouth wide open as he retorted, "You're kidding, right?"

Morgan shook her head as the man sighed, "I guess I could think of worse," Damien holding out his hand and sighing, "Alright, you're on."

Both shook hands as Morgan led the man to a training facility with training mechs, Damien saying, "Wow, I've never been in here before," the general replying, "Whenever there's a major dispute among fellow soldiers, this is where it's usually solved."

With that, Morgan turned the training mechs on and set their vitality to four thousand each. Each member of the army climbed into one as it was time to begin.

"Would have been nice to have had my first duel here instead of the battlefield," Damien stated as Morgan remarked, "Don't get snippy with me. Come on, you can go first!"

Damien nodded and drew six cards, looking over his hand. Just to be on the safe side, he started by activating 'Cold Wave' thus encasing both spell zones in ice. He then summoned a monster in defence mode and ended his turn.

"Oh, darn," Morgan groaned, "Now I can't use my super awesome combo."

And rather than attacking, Morgan summoned her own monster in defence mode and ended her turn. Whatever she had played must have been rather weak, but Damien knew he could not take his chances. For all he knew, this monster probably had a high defence power.

Luckily for him, his next card was 'Spawn Alligator'. With that, he figured he had nothing to fear even with his spell no longer in effect. And as such, the man wasted no time sacrificing his face-down monster, the training mech taking hold of the monster and crushing it with its hands.

The purple alligator with a white chest plate took form with his twenty-two hundred attack points. Morgan simply faked a gasp and exclaimed, "Oh my god, I'm screwed!"

But when the alligator lunged at Morgan's defending monster, the general smirked and said, "Just kidding," as the monster in question was a grey golem with a golden rim around its face. This was 'Destiny Hero Defender' and he had a defence power of twenty-seven hundred.

Spawn Alligator crunched down on the monster with his jaws only for his eyes to widen, his teeth shattering. A shock wave then emanated from the golem and struck Damien's mech, bringing its vitality down to thirty-five hundred.

"Well, it's a good thing I have this card," Morgan said with a childish grin, Damien astounded that something with such a high defence was below level five.

As Damien's turn came to a close, Morgan drew her next card and said, "Don't worry. As long as this monster remains face-up, you get to draw an extra card every turn."

The man took a deep breath as it seemed the general had much more in store. With Cold Wave no longer in effect, she took this opportunity to place one card face-down in her spell zone and activated a spell called 'Misfortune'. Damien's eyes went wide as Morgan's mech sent a beam into his, bringing its vitality down to twenty-four hundred.

"I love this one," Morgan said with a grin, "I can select any monster you have face-up and deal damage equal to half its attack. The only downside is I can't use my monsters to attack, but considering how weak they are compared to your amazingly powerful gator, it hardly matters."

Damien narrowed his eyelids as the general summoned a monster in defence mode. It was truly amazing. She had not launched one attack and yet Damien's vitality had almost been cut in half within a short time frame.

Even so, it was his turn now as he drew two cards. He placed one card face-down in his spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode. He then had his Spawn Alligator attack Morgan's defending monster, revealing it to be a buff man covered in a green armour that made him resemble a fighter plane. His name was 'Destiny Hero Fear Monger' and he only had a defence power of one thousand, thus Spawn Alligator was able to beat him easily.

Rather than looking upset, though, Morgan simply smirked and revealed her trap, a card called 'Destiny Signal'. Since her monster had been destroyed, she was able to summon another destiny hero to take its place from her deck, and she went with a man with flowing white hair and a blue outfit with diamonds attached to it. His name was 'Destiny Hero Diamond Dude' and he had an attack power of fourteen hundred.

'She's keeping her numbers up,' Damien thought, 'What could she be planning?'

Whatever it was, the man's turn had come to a close, so he could do nothing about this. Thus Morgan drew her next card and flipped her Diamond Dude into defence mode and summoned another monster in the same position. Damien had to admit that he was a tad surprised. He had expected her to have something really powerful in her hand that she could use both of her monsters to bring out.

She then placed one card face-down in her spell zone and ended her turn, saying, "Well, go ahead."

Once again, Damien was able to draw two cards as he looked over his hand. He had drawn 'Sparkman' and 'Polymerization'. If he could draw the right card soon, he could certainly make use of this.

However, it seemed he might not need it as the previous turn, he had drawn his 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'. With this in his hand, he could very well turn this duel around.

The man sacrificed both of his monsters in exchange for the dragon as the beast took form and let out a threatening roar. Morgan's eyes widened as she gulped, "Oh, I forgot Emma had that in her deck."

But just as the dragon was about to strike down Defender, Morgan revealed her face-down card as Damien's eyes widened. The card in question was not a trap but rather a quick-play spell, namely 'The Reliable Guardian'. As such, the golem's defence power rose to thirty-four hundred as the dragon's lightning had no effect on him, some of it bouncing off and striking Damien's mech. This brought his vitality down to two thousand as he grimaced.

"YAY!" Morgan exclaimed with a grin, "This is so awesome! I'm beating Emma's deck!" Damien trembling. Could it be? After all this time, was he still not worthy of his mother's deck?

No, he was certain that come next turn, he would be ready. But it seemed he would certainly need a miracle as Morgan drew her next card and smirked. With that, her mech destroyed each of her monsters one-by-one as a dark cloud formed around their remains. And when the cloud cleared up, 'Destiny Hero Dogma' had taken their place.

Damien's eyes went wide as Morgan smirked, explaining, "Dogma can only be special summoned by sacrificing three monsters, though at least one of them has to be a destiny hero. Good thing all of my monsters are destiny heroes."

This was especially alarming as the hero had thirty-four hundred attack points, and since he was a special summon, Morgan was able to summon another monster. Luckily, the monster in question was another Fear Monger, so Damien would at least survive the turn.

"Oh, one last thing," Morgan said as she activated 'Harpie's Feather Duster', Damien's trap leaving the field. Luckily for him, he had not lost anything too useful, but he still wished it had not happened.

Dogma flew toward Blue-Eyes and stabbed him in the heart with a blade attached to his wrist, the hero grinning as the dragon fell on his back and sunk into the floor. To make matters worse, the hero then proceeded to send his blade into Damien's mech and bring its vitality down to sixteen hundred. Fear Monger then proceeded to fire a blast from a big arm cannon he had thus reducing the man's vitality to six hundred.

However, it did not end there as when Morgan's turn came to a close, Dogma shot a dark beam from his blade and struck Damien's mech. This lowered his vitality to three hundred as Morgan explained, "Oh yeah, when I special summon Dogma, the opponent's vitality is cut in half during his standby phase."

Damien gritted his teeth as he drew his next card. He had to at least do something. This was pathetic. He had been given plenty of opportunities to damage Morgan, but she had been one step ahead of him the whole time.

But his next card he knew could change everything. His eyes went wide as the card in question was a monster known as 'Elemental Hero Bladedge'. He was a level seven monster with twenty-six hundred attack points. His armour was made of solid gold and he had two arm blades, making for a very impressive form.

However, even if Damien could summon him, he was still not powerful enough to be of major use. No, Damien had a much different use for him and as such, the man activated his Polymerization as Sparkman and Bladedge took form.

"It can't be!" Morgan exclaimed as Sparkman spread his arms out. Bladedge had his own arms expand in size as his body came apart and latched itself to his ally hero. Now Sparkman wore Bladedge like a suit of armour and went under the name 'Elemental Hero Plasma Vice', his attack power now twenty-six hundred.

"Oh my god!" Morgan exclaimed with panic, "Please don't use his special effect!" Damien retorting, "As if I'm gonna pass up this opportunity."

The man then discarded a monster from his hand as Plasma Vice sent a burst of electricity from his palms into Dogma. His body soon burnt to a crisp as only his skeleton remained, Damien using his normal summon to bring out a tan-colour lizard with green scales covering all but his front side. His name was 'Ancient Lizard Warrior' and he had an attack power of fourteen hundred.

Morgan bit her lower lip as the lizard used his razor sharp claws to slice Fear Monger open. The man collapsed and sank into the floor as the lizard struck Morgan's mech, bringing her vitality down to thirty-six hundred.

But it did not end there as Plasma Vice charged toward the mech with his fist raised, sending a hard punch into its chest and reducing its vitality to one thousand. Damien had a big grin as he gone from no results to incredible results just like that. This was truly a miracle that would have never happened if he did not know how to use his mother's cards.

Morgan drew her next card and smiled. She had drawn another 'Misfortune' and if she played this, she would win for sure. However, she did not wish to ruin this moment and thus, she placed her hand over her deck and said, "Well, you sure showed me. Guess you win this one."

Damien blinked and asked, "You're just giving up?" Morgan sighing, "If this was a serious battle and you were in New Domino's army, I wouldn't surrender, but this was just a fun practice duel."

"Fair enough," the man replied, "but what about...?" Morgan cutting in and saying, "Walk with me."

With that, he did so as the general said, "Well, as promised, I'll tell you exactly how this war started. Though it is worth note that New Domino did start all of this."

"Are you insinuating that we're in the right just because of that?" Damien asked as Morgan shook her head and replied, "Oh no, it's just very important that, because most people don't even know why they attacked us. In fact, if I wasn't so close to Emma, I would have never understood this."

Damien was now even more curious. He wanted to know exactly what his mother had to do with this.

"First of all, the general of New Domino is a man just a few years older than me named Glen," Morgan explained, "See, his father, Andrew, was the general of New Domino's army during the war back in the day. It was said that no one could match his might and that the few times he duelled, even the most experienced soldiers stood no chance against him."

"Damn, he certainly puts Drake to shame," Damien remarked as Morgan nodded and said, "Well, there was one soldier who put him on the run, and that was Emma. It was not long until she became a force to be reckoned with. And during the final confrontation, both she and Andrew fought a vigorous battle. Everyone else had been struck down, so it was up to them to decide which city would win."

"So who won it?" Damien asked as Morgan smirked and replied, "Your mother, of course."

"Figures," the man replied with a shrug as the woman added, "Though something worth note is that Glen never looked up to his father or saw him as a hero. He just saw him as someone who promoted violence, so when the war ended, he was glad just to have a real father again. And needless to say, when Andrew died, Glen had no intention of following in his footsteps."

"So what made him change his mind?" Damien asked as Morgan sighed, "It shocked everyone, but I was there when he snapped and as much as it pains me to admit it, I think I'm somewhat responsible for it," Damien's eyes going wide.

The woman then remembered how long ago, she had come to New Domino for a visit. While there, she came across Glen who was out on a stroll, or rather the two bumped into one-another. After a quick introduction and Glen mentioning his last name, Ritz, Morgan knew exactly who he was. But since the war was water under the bridge at this point, the two had no problem having a quick coffee and conversation with one-another.

During their talk, Glen mentioned how he had no interest in ever joining the army. Morgan simply grinned and said, "Probably for the best. I mean, hell, he was certainly no hero."

"I used to think that way about him," Glen replied, "But I dunno. The fact that he was the one who singlehandedly ended the war is pretty impressive. I've kind of changed my outlook on him."

"Wait, back up," Morgan remarked, "What do you mean HE ended the war?"

"Well, he was the one who dealt the final blow, right?" Glen stated with a shrug, "Pretty impressive if you ask me."

"I think you got your stories backwards," the woman said, "It was Emma who won that battle. I saw it happen with my own eyes," Glen chuckling and retorting, "Well, maybe that's just what you wanted to see, or it could have been a hallucination. After all, I heard it was a very intense battle. With all the attacking and smoke and explosions, your vision probably wasn't great during that time."

"No, I witnessed it happen," Morgan remarked, "Also, afterwards, your father surrendered to us. He rose a white flag and admitted we were the superior city."

"But that couldn't have happened," Glen stated, "He told me himself that it was a close call, but ultimately, he was the winner. He was even about to blow up your entire city but he chose not to because he knew ending the lives of innocent civilians was wrong. That right there changed my vision of him completely," a grin forming on the man's face.

"That is a load of shit!" Morgan retorted with a look of irritation on her face, "He was planning on blowing up Crystal City and he was going to stop at nothing to make sure it happened! He had no intention of sparing us! If it weren't for our general, we'd all be dead!"

Glen frowned and got up, saying, "I won't have you slander my father anymore. Just you wait. You and your entire city will learn just how great our family is," the man turning and marching off into the distance.

"And about a year later, Glen made his way up to general status," Morgan explained back in present time, "And after that, he launched his first attack against us. He sent in a soldier with a bomb strapped to his back, which was used to blow up an apartment building."

"So all of this is because his dad lied to him?" Damien asked as Morgan nodded and sighed, "I guess if I'd just pretended to believe his story, we would have been fine. But it's too late now, and I'm sure even if we surrendered, he wouldn't go so easy on us. Believe you me, that one time and your first day on the job, well, those aren't the only times he's had his soldiers try to blow us up."

"It's a shame we can't just apologize or something," Damien sighed, "I guess the only way out of this would be to beat him, you know, get him to surrender. But do the others know he plans to blow us up?"

Morgan blinked and said, "You mean his soldiers. I don't think they do, honestly. I'm sure they probably see him as some kind of saint who was forced into war by horrible circumstances. I even remember hearing that he blamed the war on us. Can't remember what his reason was, though."

The woman shrugged and said, "Anyway, I'm off to my office. It was fun visiting with you," the general giving Damien a smile and heading off.

Now Damien knew just how important this was. They would need to end this war as soon as possible, but Glen could not be allowed to win.


	29. Chapter 29

Things were rather odd at New Domino this morning. It seemed that Glen had decided to give everyone the day off, which was very odd as there was certainly quite a bit that the soldiers could do. Even so, for some, it was likely for the best that they were not working today, especially Katherine.

Ever since Drake rejected her, she had been under the weather and Katie had been trying her best to cheer her up. But not even her best friend could help her out.

"Cheer up," the white-haired woman groaned, "So it didn't work out. I'm sure there's someone else for you out there!" Katherine groaning, "No! It has to be Drake! It's destiny!"

Katie took a deep breath and asked, "Alright, girl, tell me something. During the time you hung out with Drake, what exactly did you learn about him?"

"Well, I found out origami doesn't interest him," the blue-haired woman replied, "which is rather odd because I found it really fascinating when I did it with the others. I found out he really like fruit punch, though honestly I find it too strong, but that's okay."

"Stop," Katie remarked with a sigh, "Did you find out anything that you two have in common?" Katherine thinking hard about this and uttering, "We're both good duellists?" a light smile on her face as Katie face-palmed.

The blue-haired woman then let out a groan and barked, "It doesn't matter! It's meant to be! Haven't you heard of 'opposites attract'!?" Katie nodding and replying, "Yes, but usually for that kind of pairing to work, the two must have at least something really big in common or a huge understanding. It sounds to me like you don't really know Drake all that well."

Katherine looked down and sighed, "I guess you're right," before giving her friend a hug and adding, "Thanks, Katie. Taylor was right. I really do need to listen to you more often."

Katie smirked and jokingly remarked, "No, you think?" as both women shared a laugh. Now Katherine's spirits had returned and she felt ready for anything.

During this time, Aadil was spending time with Angela. In fact, both had spent a lot more time with each-other than their roommates as of late. And as it just so happened, both Taylor and Drake were discussing this in Taylor's room.

"They seem to click really well," Drake said with a light smile, "I've never seen Aadil get along with someone that well before."

Taylor nodded and replied, "Yeah, and Angela's less quiet around him than anyone else," before smirking and adding, "You know what this means, right?"

Drake's eyes widened briefly as he turned to the woman and said, "Well, I wouldn't put it past Aadil to feel that way. After all, he's gotten those feelings many times before," Taylor nodding and replying, "I'm not sure about Angela, though. She probably doesn't know how to fall in love."

"You're not thinking of getting involved, are you?" Drake asked as the woman shook her head and replied, "Nah. That's up to them. If they truly feel this way, they'll let each-other know eventually."

"That's very grown-up of you to say," Drake said with a smirk, "No offence, but when I first met you, I thought you were nothing more than a cold bitch."

Taylor laughed and replied, "None taken. I totally was," the woman sighing, "It really is amazing. All I cared about was being better than you. Now I just want to help my team as much as possible."

After a few seconds, Drake said, "Hey, Taylor, there's something I'd like to do, especially now that we have a chance."

"Alright, what is it?" the woman asked, the man saying, "I challenge you to a rematch."

Taylor's eyes widened as he added, "That's right. I'd like to face you in another duel, only this time we'll each have five thousand vitality, like my mech."

"Hey, that's all water under the bridge," the purple-haired woman remarked, "You can't possibly be butthurt about that!"

"I'm not," Drake remarked, "You won that fair and square. I just wanna see if maybe you would be worthy of my title under more difficult circumstances."

Taylor blinked and smirked, saying, "Well, I am kinda bored and honestly, I don't wanna interrupt Angela. Alright, let's do it."

During this time, Glen decided to check up on the mechanics as they were almost three quarters finished. The legs had been put in and the diamond had just been inserted into the torso. Sure, these parts may have already been made, but it was still difficult to put them all together.

"Looking good," Glen said with a grin, "Do you suppose you'll be done as soon as you planned?" the head mechanic stating, "As a matter of fact, we're making better progress than first expected. We should be done by nightfall."

The general nodded and replied, "Wonderful. I'll tell everyone to prepare for a full-scale attack tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Taylor and Drake were in the training facility. The blue-haired man set each mech to five thousand vitality as both soldiers entered their respective mechs. Sure, neither felt the least bit malicious toward the other anymore, but they were still determined to give it their all. After all, Drake wanted to prove that he was worthy and Taylor did not wish to insult his request by holding back.

"You can go first," Drake said with a grin as Taylor asked, "You sure? I'd be okay with you going first."

However, the blue-haired man seemed more than certain of his decision as the woman shrugged and drew a sixth card. She found this to be a rather iffy hand as she only had two monsters. But she also had four traps and one of those monsters could prove useful if she could survive the first turn.

With this in mind, Taylor placed her traps face-down in her spell zone and left it at that, Drake raising an eyebrow and asking, "Are you going easy on me?" the woman retorting, "As if! When you see what I'm planning, you'll understand everything!"

When Drake drew his next card, he took a deep breath and said, "Looks like I might just end up ruining your strategy."

Taylor blinked and asked, "What?" the blue-haired man activating a spell called 'Dark World Lightning'. The woman's jaw dropped as she spat, "Hey, I have that card too!" Drake saying, "Somehow I figured you would, so you at least know what it does."

Drake proceeded to discard one of the cards from his hand as a bolt of lightning came down and struck one of Taylor's traps. The woman was now worried as of all cards, the one that Drake's spell destroyed was 'Trap Hole'. Of all four spells, this was the one Taylor needed to avoid having a monster attack her this turn.

"Let me guess, that was your trump card, right?" Drake asked with a smirk as Taylor sighed, "Don't get cocky. This is a minor setback."

However, it seemed this setback was not as minor as it could have been as the monster Drake summoned was an oil lamp with spider-like legs named 'Ancient Lamp'. While it only had an attack power of nine hundred, its effect was very useful as it allowed Drake to special summon a more powerful monster.

A puff of smoke rose up out of the lamp as a green genie emerged and took form next to it. His name was 'La Jinn The Mystical Genie of the Lamp' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred.

"Oh no," Taylor groaned as the genie proceeded to send a blast of magic into Taylor's mech. This brought her vitality down to thirty-two hundred while she thought, 'Not yet.'

Ancient Lamp added to the damage by firing a beam of light from the hole on the end of its tip. This reduced Taylor's vitality to twenty-three hundred as she thought, 'Now!'

The woman summoned a big black scorpion-like demon with a monstrous face named 'Tragoedia'. This monster could be special-summoned after the user took in damage and his attack power was six hundred multiplied by the number of cards in the player's hand, meaning he only had six hundred right now.

"Not bad," Drake said with a shrug, "But that doesn't help you much," the man's turn coming to a close as Taylor remarked, "Mark my words, this is only the beginning!"

Her next card was 'Pot of Greed' and she wasted no time activating it and adding two cards to her hand. This brought Tragoedia's attack up to eighteen hundred, but that was still not good enough. And unfortunately, while she could easily destroy Ancient Lamp, La Jinn was another deal all together.

However, her eyes widened as she realized something she could do. As a matter of fact, she had just drawn a monster that could easily turn this duel in her favour, one that Drake could have a lot of trouble dealing with.

"Alright, Drake, time to really test your skills," Taylor stated as she summoned a grey demon with a permanent wide smile on his face and hair made from finger bones. His body was transparent, so his organs could actually be seen. This demon was known as 'Brron, Mad King of Dark World' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred.

"That is a powerful monster, but the only way you can beat my La Jinn is by destroying him as well," Drake stated as Taylor grinned and remarked, "That's why I don't intend to use him for that purpose."

She then had Brron target Ancient Lamp as the demon shifted his arms to control chains that bound them together. He then used to chains to whip the lamp hard, covering its body in cracks as it soon shattered into small pieces. Brron had the chains strike Drake's mech as its vitality dropped to forty-one hundred.

It did not end there, though, as Taylor said, "By the way, when Brron deals damage, I have the option to discard one of my cards, and I choose this one."

The card in question was actually Taylor's strongest monster, a dragon by the name of 'Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World'. Damien was rather confused by this decision until the dragon's spirit appeared and sent a burst of dark energy into La Jinn, the monster melting as his liquified remains sank into the floor.

"By the way, that's not his only effect," Taylor stated with a grin, "Though I can't activate it just yet. So I'll settle for this instead."

As such, she had Tragoedia crawl over to Drake's mech and pinch its arms with his claws thus bringing his vitality down to thirty-five hundred. And with that out of the way, Taylor smirked and said, "Now I can use Grapha's other effect."

She then returned Brron to her hand as the dragon rose from her graveyard and took form. He was made entirely out of bones and was covered in a silver armour. The only parts of him that were not bone were black feathers attached to his wings. He was certainly a fearsome beast as his attack power was twenty-seven hundred.

While Tragoedia may have been just as weak as when he was first summoned, Drake had to admit that he was terrified right now. What could he possibly do to get around this?

Whatever the case, he knew he had to at least prove himself. As such, the man drew his next card and took a deep breath. But just as he was about to look at it, he and Taylor turned away from their duel when they noticed a big group of soldiers had entered the training facility, including Katherine, Katie, Angela and Aadil.

"What the hell?" Taylor uttered as Aadil grinned and said, "Hey, you were right, Nathaniel. Taylor and Drake are having a duel right now."

"Yeah, I overheard them talking about it earlier," a young man with an eagle haircut replied, a woman exclaiming, "This is so cool!" another adding, "Though Drake looks like he's in trouble."

"Go, Taylor!" Angela squeaked as Aadil chuckled and said, "You'll have to talk louder than that if you want her to hear you."

Katherine, all the while, took a deep breath. She did not care who won this duel. She only wanted to see how it played out.

"Well, looks like we got an audience now," Drake said with a shrug, "I'm okay with that," Taylor smirking and saying in a joking tone, "Yeah, they'll watch me wipe the floor with you."

Of course, she no longer meant that maliciously, but even so, Drake could not help but wonder if this would happen. But when he saw his next card was his own 'Pot of Greed', his confidence rose a little bit as he activated it.

Upon seeing his next two cards, one in particular stood out. Drake grinned and said, "Well, I got something that might turn this around."

With this in mind, the blue-haired man proceeded to summon a young slender man with snow-white armour, a red mask over his mouth, blond hair and a huge sword. His name was 'D. D. Assailant' and he had an attack power of seventeen-hundred.

The warrior then sprinted toward Tragoedia and effortlessly used his sword with only one hand to slice the scorpion in two. Tragoedia's corpse sunk into the floor as Assailant struck Taylor's mech, dropping her vitality to eighteen hundred.

Aadil nodded and said, "Drake realized this is much more beneficial for him than Taylor," Angela uttering, "It still doesn't seem too smart. Now he'll take in damage this turn."

"He would have taken in damage either way," Katherine sighed, "At least this way, Taylor's numbers have been lowered."

Taylor drew her next card and smirked, saying, "So you defeated one monster. Big deal."

But as she looked over her hand, she was not too happy with it. Sure, Brron was worth keeping, but her other two cards were not. As such, she finally felt the need to activate one of her traps.

This was called 'Dark Scheme' and it allowed both duellists to replace two cards with two new ones from the tops of their decks. Drake could have countered this by discarding one of his cards, but even he felt the need to replace his hand as each soldier discarded two cards and drew two new ones.

Taylor grinned and said, "Much better," as she placed a card face-down in her spell zone and summoned Brron back to the field.

"Drake's gonna get it, isn't he?" Angela uttered as Aadil replied, "Hard to say. Unless Taylor knows what his monster's effect is, she could end up making the dumbest move possible."

And it seemed Taylor was unaware of D. D. Assailant's effect as she had Grapha send a burst of dark fire from his mouth into the man. The warrior's eyes widened as his body melted, his skeleton remaining as it collapsed into smaller fragments. The fire then spread until it touched Drake's mech, bringing its vitality down to twenty-five hundred.

However, Assailant's effect activated as a result, Taylor blinking as he rose up from the dead only for Drake's mech to destroy him thus removing him from play. But after he was destroyed, his sword flew out of his hand and pierced Grapha's armour, the dragon letting out a loud roar as he was also removed from play, his body falling backwards and sinking into the floor.

"My god, you're a genius," Taylor uttered as the other soldiers cheered wildly, one of them exclaiming, "I KNEW DRAKE WOULDN'T MAKE THINGS THAT EASY FOR HER!"

Even so, the purple-haired woman took a deep breath and said, "Oh well, I can still hit you," Brron using his chains to strike Drake's mech and bring his vitality down to seven hundred. Even with Grapha gone, it seemed Taylor was most likely to win this duel.

But when Drake drew his next card, a light smile formed as he had a very good hand, but he would not yet use the card that he drew. He had a different plan, but it would only work if Taylor had nothing to respond with. As such, Drake decided to take a big risk as he summoned a blond knight shrouded in a ripped up cloak to the field in attack mode. His name was 'D. D. Survivor' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred.

"That's your plan?" Taylor scoffed, "I know you're smarter than this," Drake replying, "That's why I'm not attacking."

The purple-haired woman blinked and said, "Oh, you know I'll be taking a big risk if I attack, too. Well, I'm not giving you that satisfaction."

And as she drew her next card, she had another reason not to attack with Brron. None of her monsters were particularly powerful and as such, she summoned a single monster in defence mode and ended her turn.

And when Drake drew his next card, he grinned and said, "I think I've won this now," as Taylor gulped, Aadil saying, "That's a pretty bold claim. I wonder if he can back it up."

Angela bit her lip as Katherine sighed and exclaimed, "SHOW HER WHO'S BOSS, DRAKE!" Katie's eyes going wide as the blue-haired woman sighed, "He may have rejected me, but I still support him."

Drake nodded and activated 'Monster Reborn' as Taylor's eyes widened, the woman uttering, "Don't tell me..."

Drake then returned his Assailant to the field as Taylor figured he was planning on sacrificing his Survivor so he could attack her directly. With that in mind, she remembered her face-down monster, and this monster in question was 'Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World'. This monster had a defence power of twenty-one hundred, so even if Drake was willing to part with his Survivor, he still would not be able to get at Taylor's vitality.

But deep down, she knew better. Drake had something else planned and this was made clear when he sacrificed both of his monsters in exchanged for a snow-white demon with big crow wings coming out of his back and dark-blue armour covering his body. This was 'Darklord Asmodeus' and he had an attack power of three thousand.

"YEAH, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I SAW THAT CARD!" Aadil exclaimed with excitement as the others cheered wildly, the demon flying toward Brron and striking him hard in the chest.

Brron fell hard on his back and sunk into the floor as Asmodeus sent a punch to Taylor's mech, bringing her vitality down to six hundred. Now both were very close to failure as Taylor took many deep breaths.

With no other options at the moment, Taylor used this chance to activate the trap she had set earlier, 'The Forces of Darkness'. Now that she had two Dark World monsters in her graveyard, she could return them to her hand with the help of this trap.

Even so, this was hardly enough to help her as she drew her next card. Her eyes widened at the sight of the monster she had drawn, a mummy called 'Grave Squirmer'. Sure, he had zero attack and defence but his special effect was to destroy any monsters that destroyed him. If Drake was foolish enough to attack him as opposed to Renge, there was no doubt that the blue-haired man would lose this duel.

Taylor knew she had nothing to lose at this point as she summoned the monster in defence mode and ended her turn. Angela, all the while, bit her lip and hoped for the best while Katherine hoped none of Taylor's face-down cards would win her this duel.

After drawing his next card, Drake summoned a green zombie with grey hair on the sides of his head and rusted armour. He was aptly named 'Armoured Zombie' and had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

Taylor bit her lip as Drake had Asmodeus attack first. And it seemed the purple-haired woman's strategy had failed her as the target was Renge, a large grey demon with the build of a sumo wrestler, orange palms and armour covering his shoulders formed. Since Asmodeus greatly overpowered his defence, Renge was easily overpowered as he fell hard on his back, sinking into the floor.

Armoured Zombie proceeded to march toward Grave Squirmer, the mummy taking form as the zombie grabbed onto his arms and bit into his shoulders. But just as the mummy was about to go down, he let loose his bandages and bound them to Asmodeus, the demon's eyes widening as he was dragged into the graveyard with Squirmer.

"Oh yeah, I can picked any card and destroy it," Taylor said with a shrug as Drake sighed and ended his turn. As if that was not enough, he knew Brron was back in the woman's hand thanks to her trap earlier.

Taylor wasted no time as she summoned the monster, Brron using his chains to lob off Armoured Zombie's head. The rest of the zombie fell forward and sunk into the floor as the chains whipped Drake, dropping his vitality to four hundred. The others trembled as Aadil groaned, "Oh no, what's he gonna do now?"

"Well, you've been a great opponent," Taylor said with a grin, "Even if you lose this, don't think for a minute that you're not worthy of your title. I think you're more than worthy of keeping it."

Drake grinned and replied, "Thanks," as he drew his next card.

As it just so happened, Drake had drawn 'Jinzo Number Seven', the man saying, "Well, Taylor, it seems your winning streak is finally over," the woman's jaw dropped as he summoned his cyborg in attack mode.

"No offence, but how is that supposed to-?" Taylor asked before sighing, "Right, as Angela would tell me, there's always something else to moves like these."

"Wise words," Drake replied as he activated 'Yami', bringing his monster's attack power up to seven hundred as he added, "I've had this card for a while, but I chose not to use it because I knew it would help you too."

Taylor nodded and replied, "That does add up," as Jinzo sprinted toward her mech. Brron attempted to strike the cyborg with his chains but failed as Jinzo leapt over them and sent a downward kick into the head of Taylor's mech.

The woman's eyes widened as her vitality dropped to zero, the mech powering down as the duel came to a close. The area erupted into heavy cheering as Drake had won, the man taking a deep breath and climbing out of his mech.

Taylor soon joined him and sighed, "So at the end of it all, I was beaten by a weakling. Well played, my friend, well played."

Aadil grinned and said, "Honestly, I wasn't sure he'd be able to pull that off," Angela nodding and saying, "Drake's so cool."

Katherine let out a sigh and uttered, "I know, right?" Katie patting her friend on the back.

But just as the soldiers were about to head back to what they were doing before, the intercom came on as Glen exclaimed, "Attention, soldiers! I would like you all to report to the meeting hall immediately!"

The soldiers simply shrugged and did as told. After all, seeing even a fraction of a duel between New Domino's finest soldiers was a real treat. But what exactly did Glen want to discuss with them?


	30. Chapter 30

Note: In case you're wondering, Morgan's mech is heavily inspired by Valsione from Super Robot Wars Original Generation.

While the New Domino soldiers had been called for a meeting, Morgan had called the Crystal City army to the meeting hall for the same thing. As it just so happened, she had only now discovered the missing parts when she had gone to check up on them.

The soldiers gathered together as Matt gulped and uttered, "This isn't good. Normally when we have a meeting, it's to greet newcomers. I can't remember the last time we had a different reason."

"It was when a New Domino Spy stole our core to create another bomb," Cindy whimpered as Morgan tapped her microphone and exclaimed, "Alright, you're all probably wondering why I called you all here today!"

"Did New Domino steal our core again?" Steven asked as Morgan sighed, "Worse. It seems they somehow got their hands on those amazingly strong parts we found."

All went silent as Morgan groaned, "I honestly should have known better. I get a new secretary and she leaves the next day. Why didn't I see it coming?"

"Wait, so Felicity was behind it?" Damien asked as Scarlet replied, "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about her."

"That's not the worst of it," Morgan stated as the soldiers were now frightened, the woman adding, "See, it has come to my attention that all the parts were discovered matched each-other. It seems they're the remains of some super mech that was destroyed long ago. But unlike Emma's mech, this material can still be put back together. Now Glen has every one of them, and this included a diamond that serves to make the mech even stronger. If he's thinking what I think he is, he'll likely put the mech back together and use it against us, so prepare for the worst."

The soldiers nodded as the woman sighed, "Dismissed," everyone heading out as Cindy whimpered, "Just think, if even one of us had succeeded, this wouldn't have happened!"

"No, it wouldn't have made a difference," Damien remarked, "You heard what she said. Felicity left in the middle of the night. This meant even if we had brought those other parts back, she would have taken them too."

"Still, I expected worse," Matt replied, "A super powered mech is one thing, but a big bomb is another. I'm glad he doesn't have the means to make one of those again."

"So wait, that bomb Drake had the first time I faced him," Damien asked, "was that not the biggest bomb their general has used against us?" Scarlet shaking her head and replying, "Oh no, he's tried much bigger ones before. We barely managed to stop those New Domino soldiers from using it."

"That would have been devastating if it actually worked," Damien uttered, "Still, this new mech sounds like one we should worry about. Only a highly advanced soldier would be trusted with something like that."

During this time, the New Domino soldiers had assembled in the meeting hall while Glen exclaimed, "Everyone, I have a new super weapon that I know is going to win us this war once and for all! As such, I wish to declare a direct attack on Crystal City's base!"

Everyone stared silently as Katherine rose her hand and asked, "So we're going to battle right now?" Glen nodding and replying, "Yes, I know it's rather late in the day, but we can't hold back for too long!"

Drake bit his lower lip as the general added, "I have created two bombs for this mission! Drake, you will carry one of them because I know how important this is to you!"

The blue-haired man let out a sigh of relief as Glen stated, "The last one I will entrust to Aadil. Though as much as I know you guys work well as a team, I'd rather have you separate just in case one of you fails, even though that is highly unlikely."

"Permission to speak, sir," Winston said as the general granted him permission, the man asking, "So I'm guessing you held off on this attack so we could create more than one bomb, right?"

"Actually, no, the reason I'm declaring this attack now is because I have a new super weapon that will guarantee our success!" Glen exclaimed as the mech his mechanics had built was brought into the area by two piloted mechs, the general explaining, "This mech was put together from all the parts that Drake, Aadil, Taylor, Angela and Katherine helped me acquire!"

The soldiers all applauded the five soldiers in question as Angela blushed bright, Katherine chuckling and saying, "Finally, the recognition I deserve."

"This baby here has the highest vitality any mech has ever had," Glen explained, "Specifically, eighty-three hundred," the other soldiers gasping as he added, "Its fists have also given it a total of two thousand attack points. As such, I only see it fit that I pilot it."

The others stared silently as he sighed, "No offence to the others, especially Drake, but only a general is capable of handling such a powerful mech. As for my old mech, well, I guess Taylor can have it."

"Really!?" the purple-haired woman squealed with a big grin, "Wait, how strong is it?"

"It's vitality is forty-three hundred and its attack power is nine hundred," Drake replied as Taylor beamed with excitement. Finally, a mech truly worthy of her.

On that note, Glen had the soldiers all head to the hanger to prepare for battle. He was certain that this would be it, the conflict that would end everything. As it just so happened, he was planning something else but chose to keep it a secret.

While this went on, Morgan led Damien to the hanger but had him blindfolded, the man sighing, "Only you would treat something important like a game," the woman remarking, "You really need to loosen up, you know that?"

As soon as the two arrived, Morgan directed the man to a specific spot and said, "Alright, take off your blindfold," the man removing the cloth from his face as his eyes and mouth were wide open. Right before him was a mech slightly similar to Emma's mech only it had some notable differences.

For one thing, the mech was dark-blue as opposed to red. Its shoulders were also bigger and its build in general was slightly more bulky. Its fists were also bigger and it had a slightly sharper horn on its forehead.

"This baby right here is the most expensive one ever made," Morgan said with a grin, "In fact, this one is so expensive, I had to have all these parts imported overseas. She's got a vitality to sixty-five hundred, which is a lot higher than the old model, and there's an added bonus. Go on, look at her hands."

Damien nodded and looked them over, the man nodding as he stated, "I see, there's two weapons now," and this was true as the mech had a blade on its right wrist and three claws on its left, Morgan explaining, "Just so you know, the blade has an attack power seven hundred while the claws have an attack power of eight hundred, making for a total of fifteen hundred attack points."

"Where did you find the time to make this?" Damien asked as Morgan replied, "Actually, this baby's been in development for a while. It was difficult getting her done quickly since I also had to focus on mechs for the new recruits, but we've finally built it. See, this was always meant to be a replacement for Emma's mech in case something went wrong."

Damien narrowed his eyelids and sighed, "Forgive me for saying this, but that sounds kind of insulting," Morgan shaking her head and replying, "Trust me, it isn't. One of Emma's dying wishes was that I make the perfect replacement for her mech."

"Of course," the black-haired man replied, "I should have expected as much."

He then walked toward the mech and placed his hand against its leg. After a few seconds, he nodded his head and said, "Yeah, this'll do nicely."

"Best part is that she can be rebuilt," Morgan stated with a grin, Damien thinking, 'Well, Mother, I hope this meets your standards.'

The moment was then broken up when an alarm sounded, Morgan's eyes widening as he exclaimed, "Oh, come on!? They're attacking now!?" Damien turning toward his mech as the general said, "We should wait for the others first. After all, this mech may be powerful, but lord knows how many opponents you'd be able to take at once."

Damien nodded as Morgan pulled out a communicator and exclaimed, "Everyone, to the hanger now! We're going to war!"

Soon enough, all of the soldiers were assembled as they ran for their mechs. They had no time to hear briefing or anything of the like as New Domino's soldiers were close.

Scarlet and Damien smiled at one-another before climbing into their mechs, Steven giving Morgan thumbs up and exclaiming, "I won't let you down this time!"

Cindy was about to climb into her mech when Morgan pointed to a new pink one, this one's vitality being twenty-eight hundred as she stated, "You've earned it," Cindy's eyes sparkling as she squealed, "THANK YOU!"

With that, she sprinted into her new mech and started it up. Scarlet and Matt followed close behind as Damien climbed into his new mech and took a deep breath. This was going to be a very difficult battle but he knew he could not afford failure.

Luckily for them, though, New Domino's soldiers had not yet reached the city, but they had come very close. Glen had a third of the soldiers move in from the West while the other third moved in from the East. His division, which included Drake and Taylor, stayed on their main path.

Taylor's new mech was quite a specimen. Like her last mech, it was white, only this one was a lot more bulky and had a chain mace as its weapon. Needless to say, the purple-haired woman was beyond pleased with this.

"Now, remember," Glen said, "You're to avoid any and all confrontations this time, but if you get caught in one and lose your bomb again, keep fighting anyway."

Drake nodded and replied, "Yes, I won't give up this time," Taylor grinning and adding, "Don't worry, if anyone tries to attack you, I got your back."

All the while, Aadil and Angela were with the Eastern quarter as the African man asked, "You ready for this, Angela?" the Asian woman uttering, "I think so."

"Come on, you need more confidence than that," Aadil replied, "I know you can do this. You can't just rely on your other self for confidence all the time."

Angela nodded and put on a serious look, saying, "I'll do my best."

All the while, Katie and Katherine were with the Eastern side. The blue-haired woman turned to her white-haired friend and asked, "You ready for this?" Katie nodding and replying, "Yep, I'm not the least bit tired."

At this moment, Crystal City's soldiers emerged and it was time for them to split up. Morgan's mech was quite a specimen as it was the only one with a face that was exactly like that of a human. Its metallic parts were white with pink on the shoulders and knees and of all things, the mech even had hair similar to that of the general herself. Its main weapon was a laser blade attached to its wrist and its vitality was forty-five hundred.

"How much did this mech cost you?" Damien asked as Morgan replied, "Oh, believe you me, this is something I'm never making again! And in case you were wondering, yeah, that hair is real!"

Damien slowly nodded, not even bothering to question the fact that the mech's mouth actually moved in sync with hers. Such a thing should not have been possible and yet it was.

Damien looked around and asked, "Which division should I take?" Morgan replying, "We're heading North."

The black-haired man nodded and refused to question this. Morgan could tell that was where Drake and Glen were coming from and as such, she knew this was the best option.

Damien turned to Scarlet who gave his mech thumbs up and headed West. Matt, all the while, headed East along with Steven. Cindy, however, shockingly chose to go North with the two high-ranking soldiers.

"Aren't you gonna go with Scarlet?" Damien asked as Cindy replied, "No, I feel like there's someone I really need to face this way," Morgan shrugging and replying, "Whatever, we need to hurry."

Taylor's eyes darted back and forth as she said, "Permission to move ahead," Glen nodding and replying, "Permission granted."

"Careful," Drake said as Taylor smirked and remarked, "Please, have you already forgotten who you're talking to?"

"Right," the man replied before rolling his eyes, Taylor moving on ahead.

At this moment, many soldiers were now engaged in battle with some of New Domino's when Matt and Steven ran into Aadil and Angela. Before either could react, Aadil exclaimed, "NOW!" as both he and the Asian woman pressed the button to engage battle, a spear forming around all four mechs.

Matt let out a sigh and groaned, "I kinda wanted to be first," Steven shrugging and replying, "Oh well, I'm sure we can beat these guys anyway."

Steven then recognized Angela's mech and said, "So, we meet again," Angela's other side taking over as she replied, "Oh yeah, you're the guy who almost beat me. Let's see if you can actually manage it this time, though I warn you, my partner is even better than I am."

Aadil blushed lightly and replied, "Please, you flatter me," Matt rolling his eyes and saying, "Whatever, let's just get this started!"

This could very well be a tough duel, though. Angela's mech had twenty-eight hundred vitality while Aadil's had three thousand. Meanwhile, Matt's mech had twenty-nine hundred while Steven's had twenty-five hundred, so in terms of total vitality, they were at a slight disadvantage.

With this in mind, all four soldiers drew five cards each as Angela was set to go first. The woman looked over her hand and placed one card face-down in her spell zone. She then summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn. The monster in question was her 'Achacha Archer' and if flipped over, whoever destroyed him would take in damage.

Matt's turn was next as he drew a card and grinned, saying, "Alright, this isn't much of a starting move, but it should help all the same."

As such, the man summoned his 'Sasuke Samurai' to the field as Aadil and Angela both stared, Angela saying, "There's probably more to this."

"You're right," Matt replied with a smirk, "See, Sasuke Samurai can destroy any monster in defence mode. Best part is that if the monster has a flip summon effect, it won't work."

"What!?" Angela exclaimed as the robot samurai charged toward the defending monster and sliced open the card with his dagger. As such, Achacha Archer was unable to reveal himself as Angela blinked.

However, Aadil did not seem the least bit intimidated as he said, "Not bad, but your monster has a very low attack power," Matt going silent as he sighed, "Oh well, can't be helped," his turn coming to a close."

Aadil then drew a card and blinked. As it just so happened, he was unable to attack this turn, but he did have two traps that could help him. As such, he started his turn by summoning a young white-haired man with the wings of a falcon named 'Mist Valley Falcon'. Matt bit his nails as the monster had two thousand attack points.

However, after Aadil placed two cards face-down in his spell zone, he simply ended his turn and said, "Luckily for you, Mist Valley Falcon can't attack unless I return one card to my hand, and I have no intention of doing that."

"So that means you can't protect your ally," Steven stated as all went silent, Aadil uttering, "I guess that's true, isn't it?" before laughing nervously, Angela sighing, "Don't worry, I can handle it."

With this in mind, Steven drew his next card and summoned a monster in defence mode, Aadil asking, "Wait, what?"

"Right now, I don't have anything good enough in my hand," the man replied with a grin as he had his mech send a blast from its shoulder cannons into Angela's mech, bringing her vitality down to twenty-four hundred.

Angela drew her next card and started things off with a spell called 'Reinforcement of the Army'. Thanks to this, she was able to pick a level four or lower warrior monster from her deck and add it to her hand, so she went with 'Master of the Flaming Dragonswords'. However, she intended to save him for later as she summoned a goblin riding in a red air plane named 'Goblindbergh'. He only had fourteen hundred attack points, but there was a good reason for Angela to use him.

This was made clear when he shifted to defence mode, using his effect to special summon her Dragonswords. Now Matt was worried as Angela only made things worse with a spell called 'The A. Forces'. As a result, Goblindbergh's attack rose to sixteen hundred while Dragonswords had two thousand.

The goblin's attack increase meant nothing as he had been forced into defence mode for this to work, but this did not stop Dragonswords from charging at Sasuke and slicing him in two. Afterwards, he sent a hard strike into Matt's mech and brought his vitality down to sixteen hundred, Aadil grinning and exclaiming, "Excellent work!"

And as Matt drew his next card, he gulped as nothing in his hand could help him. As such, he summoned a monster in defence mode and ended his turn.

Aadil grinned as he drew his next card and said, "Well, looks like this duel's in the bag," as he had his mech stab Falcon in the back. The warrior fell forward and sank into the ground before being replaced by a black dragon clad in golden armour and wielding a long sword. This was 'Dragunity Arma Mystletainn' and he had an attack power of twenty-one hundred.

Matt was even more alarmed as Aadil then had his dragon race toward his defending monster. The monster in question was revealed to be a monkey wielding a spear named 'Shien's Footsoldier'. The monster's spear was easily broken in two as he took a fierce slash to his midsection, blood flying out of him as he fell on his back and sank into the ground.

But much to Aadil's surprise, when Footsoldier vanished, Matt managed to replace him with a samurai carrying a bow. He had long orange hair and a green outside along with his samurai armour and went under the name 'Kagemusha of the Six Samurai'. He had an attack power of only four hundred, but his defence power was eighteen hundred.

Aadil blinked as Matt sighed, "Luckily for me, when Shien's Footsoldier is destroyed, I can replace him with a level three or lower 'Six Samurai' monster from my deck."

Aadil shrugged and said, "Cool," as Steven's turn started up. Angela felt beyond confident as so far, Matt and Steven had barely done a thing.

But as Steven drew his next card, he took a deep breath and said, "Well, you two have certainly got us on the run, but how much longer do you think it will last?"

Aadil and Angela were both confused by these words as the man activated a spell called 'Heavy Storm'. Both New Domino Soldiers were taken aback when the green mech unleashed a twister from its shoulder cannons. The wind picked up all of Angela and Aadil's trap cards and sent them to the graveyard as both soldiers stared in stunned silence.

"I was really hoping I'd get to use at least one of my traps," Aadil uttered as the cards in question were 'Mirror Force' and 'Bottomless Trap Hole'.

"And I was saving mine for when I summoned a stronger monster," Angela sighed as her card was known as 'Copy Knight', a trap that created a knight with the same attack and defence power of the monster summoned during the turn it was activated.

"That's what you get for waiting too long!" Steven remarked with a smirk as he placed one card face-down in his spell zone and had his mech blast open his defending monster, a coal-black man with ancient writing tattooed to his body named 'Kotodama'.

He then replaced the monster with a steer wearing a cape and wielding a pitchfork. He was aptly named 'Battle Steer' and had an attack power of eighteen hundred.

Aadil was curious as to where this was going seeing as Dragonswords' attack had been reverted back to eighteen hundred and Arma Mystletainn had a higher attack power. And it seemed Steven did have more up his sleeve as he activated 'Sword of Deep Seated', his mech firing at Battle Steer's pitchfork and replacing it with the purple sword. This brought the steer's attack power up to twenty-three hundred.

Matt slowly had his mech turn its head toward Steven as he exclaimed, "OH MY GOD, YOU ARE AWESOME!" Steven laughing nervously and replying, "Well, Morgan did motivate me to try harder."

Aadil gulped as Battle Steer rushed at his dragon and slashed open his armour, a big cut forming on his chest. Arma Mystletainn then fell on his back and sank into the ground while the steer proceeded to strike Aadil's mech hard, his vitality dropping to twenty-eight hundred.

Steven's turn came to a close as the green-haired man grinned, Aadil asking, "You got something that can counter this, right?"

"We'll see," Angela replied as she drew her next card. Unfortunately for her, this was of little use right now as she simply placed it face-down in her spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode. She then flipped Dragonswords into defence mode as well and ended her turn.

Matt's turn was next as he said, "Alright, payback time!" but as he looked over his hand, he noticed two particular monsters, both of which had 'Six Samurai' in their name.

The first was a grey man who sported brown armour and had his arms and torso covered in dynamite. His name was 'Kamon' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred. The other was a man with long purple hair, green armour and two laser swords. He was known as 'Nisashi' and had an attack power of fourteen hundred.

While Kamon had the superior attack power, Nisashi had a much more useful ability, thus Matt went with him as the man took form. But it did not end there are the orange-haired man activated a spell called 'Legendary Ebon Steed', a black horse galloping into the area as Nisashi leapt onto its back and gained two hundred attack points.

"Oh no, this isn't good," Aadil uttered as Angela said, "Not bad. So you do have some better cards in your deck."

"It doesn't end there," Matt said with a smirk, "See, if I have another 'Six Samurai' monster in play, Nisashi can attack twice."

"Alright, you can take down that dragon guy!" Steven exclaimed as Matt thought about this. Sure, this opportunity was perfect. Aadil was unprotected and all of Angela's monsters were in defence mode. But at the same time, one could only guess what she would be able to pull off with three monsters on the field at once.

As such, Matt took a deep breath and said, "This may be a good opportunity, but we can't rule out the possibility that she might have something planned," Steven nodding and saying, "Well, do what needs to be done."

With that, Nisashi charged toward Dragonswords and sliced him open with his laser swords, two cuts forming on the orange swordsman's chest as he sank into the ground. But just as he was about to attack Angela's face-down monster, Matt panicked when said monster was revealed to be 'Ganbara Knight', and with his defence power of eighteen hundred, this was certainly a bad sign.

"Oh, come on!" Matt groaned as Steven grinned and said, "Don't worry," before revealing his face-down card.

This was a trap called 'Snake Fang' and when it was revealed, a long green python rose up from the card and bit into Ganbara's shoulder, piercing his armour in order to get to his flesh. This brought his defence down to thirteen hundred as Nisashi made quick work of him.

To end his turn, Matt had his mech strike Aadil's with its katana as his vitality dropped to twenty-two hundred. Now things had taken a turn in their favour.


	31. Chapter 31

While Steven and Matt were in the midst of dominating their opponents, the other soldiers were fighting off many different hordes. Scarlet had just helped one of her allies defeat two rather tough opponents when she noticed Katherine's mech nearby. Unfortunately, the soldiers she had just fought had reduced her vitality to twenty-three hundred, but she would try to work with that as she flew toward the blue mech.

As she got closer, Katherine spotted her and exclaimed, "Hey, Katie, we got us some moron trying to challenge us!" only for her friend to reply, "Sorry, I'm busy," Katherine turning to notice Katie was in a duel with another soldier.

The blue-haired woman shrugged her shoulders and uttered, "Oh well, this should be-" only for Scarlet to get close enough to initiate a duel between the two. Katherine let out a sigh and groaned, "Figures," but when she saw her opponent's vitality compared to her thirty-two hundred points, her confidence grew.

But their duel would have to wait as Aadil's turn started, the African man drawing a card. Unfortunately for him, he only had one monster that he could not summon due to its high level. As such, he activated a spell called 'Monster Reincarnation'. At the cost of one card, he was able to return a monster from his graveyard to his hand.

Since Mist Valley Falcon was the only monster he could summon, he simply returned him to his hand, but before he could summon him, he placed a trap card face-down. And as he summoned his Falcon, a smirk crossed his face.

"Dude, that may be a good defence against those samurai monsters, but my Battle Steer will take him down with ease," Steven said, "You'd have been better off defending."

"That's what you think," Aadil remarked as he revealed his trap, a card called 'Icarus Attack'. His mech then proceeded to stab Falcon in the back as two large feathers flew toward Battle Steer and Nisashi.

The steer was struck in the heart as he fell on his back and sank into the ground. But Nisashi was saved as Ebon Steed lifted himself up high enough to take the feather to his neck. As such, the horse vanished while the samurai remained on the field.

"What just happened?" Aadil uttered as Matt grinned and replied, "As it just so happens, when a monster equipped with Legendary Ebon Steed is to be destroyed, the equip spell takes in the damage instead."

"Not bad," Aadil replied with a nod of his head as it was now Steven's turn. As he drew his next card, he already knew what to do as he summoned a zebra with a golden horn on his forehead named 'Dark Zebra'. Since his attack power was eighteen hundred, he was a good ally to have as he galloped toward Goblindbergh and pierced his plane.

The plane exploded as the goblin fell hard against the ground, his body decaying into nothing. And with that out of the way, Steven used his last move to send a blast from his mech's shoulder cannons into Aadil's mech. As such, the African man's vitality dropped to eighteen hundred as he winced.

When Angela drew her next card, Aadil sighed, "Please tell me you have something now," the woman saying, "Well, I did draw something that can help keep them at bay."

As such, she summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn. This was not what Aadil had in mind, but he had to at least trust this could help as Matt's turn was next.

The card he drew was certainly a very useful one, but its full use could only take effect if he had three monsters. As such, the man summoned Kamon, the samurai covered in dynamite and sporting fifteen hundred attack points taking form. And needless to say, Angela's defending monster was his main target as he hurled a stick of dynamite from his belt at it.

The monster in question was revealed to be a slender blonde woman in a mage outfit named 'Gagaga Girl'. She was rather weak as she only had one thousand attack and eight hundred defence. But just as she was about to be destroyed, Angela revealed her trap as a thin triangular shield appeared in the girl's hand.

This was 'Gagagashield' and it prevented any spellcaster from being destroyed. Matt let out a sigh and groaned, "Oh well, guess I'll finish off your partner instead."

"Oh no, this trap can only keep my monster safe for a limited number of attacks," Angela stated as Matt grinned and exclaimed, "So if I attack one more time, your monster's finished! Alright, go in there, Nisashi!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Steven exclaimed as the samurai struck the shield with his blades. However, this once again had no effect as Angela stated, "Oh, sorry, I should have mentioned that limit was two attacks. Now, if you had a third monster powerful enough to defeat my Gagaga Girl, you would have been able to finish her off."

"Hey, no fair!" Matt retorted, "You withheld that information from me!" Angela sighing, "Well, if I told you, you wouldn't have wasted your final attack on me."

Aadil grinned and exclaimed, "Thanks, Angela! You're amazing!" the Asian woman's real self blushing as she squeaked, "He called me amazing!"

"Well, I still have two more attacks I can use," Matt stated as he had Nisashi attack a second time, thus destroying Gagaga Girl. His mech then struck Aadil's with its katana, reducing the man's vitality to twelve hundred. Now the African man needed something that could really help him otherwise he was screwed.

The African man's turn was next as he drew his next card. Luckily, he had 'Pot of Greed' as he decided to activate it and draw two new cards. And luckily, while this was not a great hand, this was certainly a much better one.

The man began his turn by removing his Mist Valley Falcon from play. As such, the monster emerged from his graveyard as his mech slit his throat with its knife. This allowed Aadil to special summon a red bird with a grey human body named 'Garuda The Wind Spirit'. This monster had sixteen hundred attack points, and while not great, it was enough to deal with Matt's monsters.

As such, the bird soared toward Kamon and struck the samurai hard with his beak. This caused him to fall on his back as he sank into the ground, Garuda ramming his beak into Matt's mech. This brought the orange-haired man's vitality down to fifteen hundred as Aadil said, "Oh, right, I still haven't made a normal summon."

As such, he summoned a monster in defence mode and ended his turn. At least now he had more to defend himself with, though it looked like Steven could still get to him.

However, once the green-haired man's standby phase came around, his Dark Zebra was switched to defence mode as he uttered, "Oh, right, Dark Zebra gets forced into defence mode if I have no other monsters on the field."

"That's fine," Matt replied, "I don't think they have much to work with anyway."

Steven nodded and drew his next card, and it seemed he was in luck. He had just drawn a fairly strong monster and he had the means to summon it. As such, the man had his mech blast a hole in his zebra's back thus allowing him to summon a grey goat with red eyes named 'Ancient One of the Deep Forest'. As this monster also had eighteen hundred attack points, this seemed ideal.

The goat then proceeded to race toward Garuda as Aadil sighed, the bird knocked on his back as he sank into the ground. Ancient One then proceeded to ram his horns into the mech thus reducing its vitality to one thousand.

As Angela drew her next card, she took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, Aadil. I just drew something useful," the African man breathing a sigh of relief and saying, "I knew you could do it."

With this in mind, the Asian woman summoned a knight clad in red and golden armour. He wore a wide cape on his back and wielded two saw-like blades. This was 'Zubaba Knight' and he had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

The knight wasted no time as he charged toward Nisashi and struck the samurai with both of his blades. The warrior in green armour then fell on his back and sank into the ground as Matt's mech was struck, his vitality dropping to thirteen hundred.

Angela's turn came to a close as she smiled lightly and said, "It's not much, but it helps," Aadil nodding as Matt's turn came next.

As the man drew his next card, his eyes went wide. He could not have asked for a better draw, and right now, he needed this more than ever. As such, the man wasted no time as he summoned an old man with long white hair and black suit of armour. This was 'Grandmaster of the Six Samurai' and he had an attack power of twenty-one hundred.

"Hey, how did you do that!?" Aadil exclaimed as Matt stated, "Well, if I have one 'Six Samurai' monster on the field, I can special summon this bad boy from my hand. And I still got a normal summon."

As such, the orange-haired man proceeded to summon a young man with a red ninja outfit and spiky blue hair. With a giant marijuana pipe in hand, this was 'Goe Goe The Gallant Ninja' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

Aadil was now frightened as Grandmaster rose his blade and charged toward Zubaba. Once he was close enough, he threw his sword downward and sliced open the knight's armour, the man falling on his back and sinking into the ground. The warrior then proceeded to strike Angela's mech as her vitality dropped to nineteen hundred.

But it did not end there as Matt was about to attack Aadil's defending monster. But just as he was about to do so, Matt said, "Maybe we should damage his partner now that we have a chance."

Matt blinked and nodded, saying, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," as he had Goe spin his pipe around as he charged toward Angela's mech.

But just as he was about to strike, the woman summoned a warrior in a grey suit of armour under a big jacket named 'Gagaga Gardna'. His defence power was two thousand, so when Goe struck him, a shock wave emanated from the mech and hit Matt's, bringing his vitality down to eight hundred.

Steven blinked and asked, "How did you do that?" Angela replying, "It's simple. When a monster attempts a direct attack at me and I have Gagaga Gardna in my hand, I can special summon him."

Matt let out a sigh and ended his turn, Aadil drawing his next card. He really hoped he would have something more useful as Angela had helped him survive to see this turn. And as it just so happened, he had drawn a monster that he knew could help him out.

The African man smirked and said, "Well, you've done an exceptional job keeping us at bay, but now your time is the spotlight is up."

With this in mind, the man had his mech stab his defending monster as he replaced it with a muscular man dressed in white and silver armour. On his back was a huge shield with an emblem that resembled an eagle and he wore a helmet that resembled a red dragon. His name was 'Dragunity Primus Pilus' and he had an attack power of twenty-two hundred.

Matt's eyes widened as the warrior pulled out a whip and struck Grandmaster, the old man falling hard on his back and sinking into the ground. The whip then hit Matt's mech thus reducing his vitality to seven hundred.

"Let's see you get around this," Aadil said with a grin as Steven sighed, "Don't worry, I'll think of something," the green-haired man drawing his next card.

Unfortunately, his card was not of much held as he switched Ancient One to defence mode and summoned a new monster in the same position. Thus his turn came to a close as Angela smiled and drew a card of her own.

She only had one card in her hand, but this was a trap that could help her. As such, she placed it face-down and ended her turn, saying, "Alright, let's see you get around this."

As Matt drew his next card, he took a deep breath and thought, 'I wanted to use his ability to its fullest, but right now, I don't really have a choice, do I?'

With that in mind, the man sacrificed both of his monsters in exchange for a new one. This monster was a centaur lion with a grey lower body with a red spike on the end of the tail and a brown upper body. He had a blue shield in his left hand and a red lance in his right and went by the name 'Beast King Barbaros', and he was sure to be a real challenge as his attack power was three thousand.

"Oh no!" Aadil exclaimed as Angela blinked and said, "That's not good."

"It's kind of a shame," Matt said with a sigh, "If I were to use three monsters to summon him, he could have destroyed all of your cards. I guess this will have to do."

As such, he had the lion charge toward Primus as he pierced the warrior's flesh. Primus fell on his back as Barbaros sent a hard strike to Aadil's mech, his vitality now down to two hundred.

Suddenly, Angela activated her trap, revealing it to be 'Call of the Haunted'. Aadil breathed a sigh of relief as the Asian woman returned her Zubaba Knight to the field. Now she could only pray that she would draw the right card that would help them win this.

And thus Matt's turn came to a close as he smirked and said, "Just try and beat me now."

Angela took a deep breath and thought, 'It's not much, but it's better than nothing,' the woman having her mech strike down both of her monsters with its boxing gloves. In exchange for the two monsters, her 'Cosmo Queen' took form as Steven gulped.

However, Matt did not seem the least bit fazed as he said, "Not bad, but Barbaros is still stronger," Angela sighing, "True, but this truly is my best card."

As such, she had the alien point her hands forward and send a blast of energy into Ancient One, the goat's body disintegrating. And on that note, Angela's turn came to a close as Steven's turn was next, the green-haired man grinning and saying, "Well, it's kinda pointless, but I guess I may as well do something."

"You've helped a lot," Matt said with a supportive smile, "You're a good ally."

With this in mind, Steven drew his next card as his eyes widened. Luck was on his side as he had drawn a monster with two thousand defence points. Sure, it was no match for Cosmo Queen, but there was no way Aadil would be able to beat it and as such, he quickly summoned it in defence mode.

Aadil's turn came as he sighed, "We might end up losing this one, you know," Angela nodding and replying, "Still, we did the best we could."

However, Aadil's faith went up when his next card was 'Pot of Greed'. As such, he quickly activated the spell and drew two new cards. His confidence went even higher when he saw the next card he had drawn. This could turn everything around.

As such, he summoned a monster in defence mode and placed a card face-down in his spell zone. With his turn now at a close, he sighed and hoped for the best.

Matt then drew his next card and said, "Well, that queen of yours is something, but I'm afraid her pretty face was never meant to remain here."

The orange-haired man then summoned a fat ninja dressed in green named 'Masked Ninja Ebisu'. Sure, his attack power was only twelve hundred, but it could still help as Barbaros charged at Cosmo Queen.

But just as it looked like Angela would be defenceless, Aadil revealed his trap as all went silent. It was a card known as 'Windstorm of Etaqua'. Matt's eyes widened as Aadil's mech conjured up a huge gust of wind, forcing both of his monsters into defence mode.

"No..." Matt uttered as Aadil had his mech give Angela thumbs up, the African man saying, "There you go. Now you can beat his monster."

"Thank you," Angela replied as even her braver self was blushing a bit, the woman drawing her next card. She then summoned a man dressed in mage garments and a chain named 'Gagaga Magician' and his attack power was fifteen hundred.

As such, she knew exactly what to do as she had Cosmo Queen send a burst of energy into Ebisu, knocking the fat ninja on his back as he sank into the ground. Since his defence power was eighteen hundred, this made much more sense.

To make things even better for her, Barbaros only had twelve hundred defence and thus her magician easily destroyed him with a blast of magic from his staff. The lion's body vanished as only his skeleton remained, the bones falling to the ground.

Matt trembled as he uttered, "No... it can't be..."

"Are you okay?" Steven asked as Matt sighed, "I hate to say it, but I think we've lost this one."

Steven would have believed this back in the day, but now he knew how to use his deck. As such, he put on a serious look and remarked, "Don't give me that, Matt! You'd never believe it, but I've always admired you for your never-give-up attitude! When you got all mopey and depressed after Drake beat you, I refused to believe it because that's not who you are! You have spirit, and that's what makes you strong!"

Drake's eyes widened as a light smile formed, the man having his mech nod its head as he replied, "Thanks. I needed that."

"Now rest assured," Steven said with a grin, "I got this."

The green-haired man then drew his next card as his eyes widened. A big grin formed on his face as he thought, 'Wow, I really do have this.'

With this in mind, the man proceeded to sacrifice both of his monsters. One was 'Electric Lizard' and the other was a stegosaurus named 'Black Stego'. But neither of these monsters compared to what he had in his hand and soon Angela would see how tough Steven could be as he summoned a round reptilian creature covered in brown fur. He was also clad in a red helmet shaped like a mage hat and two metal gloves with razor sharp claws on the ends. With two large angel wings, this was 'Winged Kuriboh Level Nine'.

"What the hell is that?" Aadil asked as Steven smirked and remarked, "For years, the Kuriboh race was mocked for its weak attack power, but now this delightful little puffball has evolved beyond living shield status. Winged Kuriboh Level Nine has an attack power equal to the number of spells in my opponent's graveyard multiplied by five hundred. Your partner has three and you have two and that makes for a grand total of five."

"Impressive," Aadil said with a nod, "but he's still too weak. His attack power is only twenty-five hundred."

"Not for long," Steven remarked as he activated the equip spell, 'Malevolent Nuzzler'. The demonic green woman rose up and stroked Kuriboh's fur as the puffball made a high-pitched noise of pleasure, his attack power rising to thirty-two hundred.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Aadil exclaimed as Kuriboh flew toward Cosmo Queen and struck her hard with his claws, the woman's body opening up as she fell on her back, sinking into the ground. Kuriboh then proceeded to strike Angela's mech as he vitality dropped to sixteen hundred.

Steven's turn came to a close as Matt had his mech give his thumbs up, Aadil drawing his next card and sighing, "Well, even if we lose, at least we truly did the best we could."

The African man could not make use of his next card as he ended his turn, Matt drawing his next card and summoning 'Lady Ninja Yae'. With his ninja in play, he had her strike down Aadil's defending monster with her daggers. Luckily for him, this monster was a black dragon with a spear-shaped head named 'Dragunity Darkspear', and his defence was only one thousand.

Angela saw no use for her next card and thus she simply had her magician destroy Yae. Matt took a deep breath as the magic struck his mech and dropped his vitality to four hundred.

"Alright, it's all you," the man said with a grin as Steven nodded and drew his next card. He then summoned an octopus with fire shooting out of his head named 'Fire Kraken'. This monster had an attack power of sixteen hundred, so he would definitely help Steven end this sooner.

He first had the octopus send a burst of flames into Gagaga Magician as his body melted, his skeleton remaining. Angela's mech then took in some of the fire as her vitality dropped to fifteen hundred.

It did not end there as Kuriboh flew toward her mech and struck it hard, bringing Angela's vitality down to zero. But just as she was about to eject herself, Steven said, "Hey, why not evacuate together?"

With that in mind, the man blasted Aadil's mech with his shoulder cannons and brought his vitality down to zero as well. With that, both New Domino mechs sputtered as the soldiers propelled themselves out of their seats and took off together.

"Well, we lost," Aadil said with a shrug as Angela sighed, "I hope the others do a good job," her normal self returning.

But those were only two soldiers, and during this time, Scarlet and Katherine were the midst of their own duel. How did it play out? That would be revealed soon.


	32. Chapter 32

Once Aadil and Angela were defeated, Matt's eyes widened when he noticed a bomb floating in the air, a ticking sound coming from it. Both Crystal City soldiers panicked as the orange-haired man flew toward the weapon and grabbed hold of it. Then with one quick thrust, he managed to hurl it high into the air as it exploded, just barely missing everyone with the resulting explosion.

"That guy had a bomb on him the whole time," Steven uttered as Matt nodded and sighed, "How did we not notice that?"

Either way, at least that was one taken care of. But what of Scarlet's duel with Katherine?

"Wait, I remember you," Katherine said with a smirk, "You're the girl I totally owned the other day! Oh, what luck!"

Scarlet narrowed her eyelids and remarked, "And you're still a poor sport about it, but mark my words, I'm not gonna lose like I did last time," the redhead drawing a sixth card.

Scarlet started things off as she placed one card face-down in her spell zone and summoned a monster in defence mode. It was not much but at least it was something.

As Katherine drew her next card, she smirked as she said, "You're gonna wish you hadn't challenged me of all soldiers."

With that, she activated 'Blue Potion' as the bottle appeared. The blue mech popped off the cap and bathed itself in the liquid as its vitality rose to thirty-six hundred. But it did not end there as Katherine summoned a mermaid with long green hair named 'Red Archery Girl' with an attack power of fourteen hundred.

The woman held up a bow and aimed an arrow toward Scarlet's defending monster. The monster in question was a wasp named 'Killer Needle' and she only had a defence power of one thousand. As such, she was unable to defend herself as the arrow pierced her chest and knocked her on her back, Katherine ending her turn.

Scarlet gritted her teeth as she knew she would need better luck than this. After all, she only had twenty-three hundred vitality left while Katherine had more than three thousand.

Luckily, though, the redhead's next draw was a very good one as she had drawn her 'Whiptail Crow'. The woman grinned and wasted no time summoning him as Katherine groaned, "Oh no, you can't be serious!"

With that, the crow flew toward the archer before him and sent his tail downward, striking her on the forehead. The woman cried out in pain as she passed out in her clam, both her and the clam sinking into the ground. The crow then proceeded to strike Katherine's mech as its vitality dropped to thirty-three hundred and fifty.

Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed, "Just try to get around that!" Katherine narrowing her eyelids and drawing her next card.

She no longer had any interest in impressing Drake, but she still intended to contribute as much as she could to this battle. After all, if she lost to her first opponent, let alone one who had already taken in damage, she would be a disgrace to the army.

With this in mind, she looked over her cards and thought hard about this. None of her monsters could defeat Whiptail Crow, but there was one that could at least provide decent protection. As such, Katherine summoned the monster in defence mode and ended her turn.

"Seems you don't have as many options as last time," Scarlet said as Katherine retorted, "Shut up and go already!"

The redhead nodded and drew her next card. Neither of her monsters had a particularly high attack power and as such, she summoned a monster in defence mode and had Whiptail Crow attack Katherine's defending monster.

This could not have gone better for the blue-haired woman as she grinned exclaimed, "Hook, line and sinker!" Scarlet's eyes widening at the sight of the monster.

This monster seemed to be a hybrid of a hermit crab and an alligator and went under the name 'Yado Karu'. His attack power was weak as it was only nine hundred, but his defence power of seventeen hundred more than made up for this as he hid in his shell. So when the crow struck it, a shock wave emanated off of him and hit Scarlet's mech, reducing her vitality to twenty-two hundred and fifty.

'Dammit,' Scarlet thought as she ended her turn, Katherine breathing a sigh of relief as she thought, 'Good, that should keep her at bay.'

And as she drew her next card, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She had just drawn her strongest monster, one that would be very difficult to defeat for sure. But she had to make sure that she could summon him. With that in mind, she looked over her cards and noticed one particular monster that could help.

The blue-haired woman wasted no time summoning said monster in defence mode as she smirked and said, "Try and get around this!"

As luck would have it, Scarlet's next card could actually help her as she grinned and said, "It seems I've got a little something that can help with this situation."

She wasted no time as she summoned a red fly with a large abdomen and a blade on her right front leg. This was 'Bladefly' and she had an attack power of six hundred.

Katherine stared silently for a few seconds before pointing and breaking out into hysterics, shouting, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO DO!? THAT MONSTER'S WEAK!"

"True, but her special ability can help me out a lot," Scarlet remarked, "See, when Bladefly is face-up on the field, all wind type monsters get an additional attack power of five hundred."

Katherine gulped and uttered, "So it's kinda like my Star Boy card," Bladefly's attack rising to eleven hundred while Whiptail Crow's grew to twenty-one hundred and fifty.

With this in mind, the blue-haired woman gulped and thought, 'Oh crap, she's going to destroy Yado Karu, isn't she?'

However, Scarlet stopped and thought, 'I gotta think logically. Sure, I could destroy Yado Karu right now, but she seems to have a lot of faith in that face-down card. Perhaps it has an even higher defence.'

With that in mind, the redhead chose to have Whiptail Crow attack the face-down monster instead. However, she was shocked when the monster in question was revealed to be a black bear named 'Mother Grizzly'. Since her defence power was only one thousand, even Bladefly could have defeated her, but it was too late as the crow struck her hard in the face and knocked her on the back, the bear sinking into the ground.

"I guess I should be thanking you," Katherine said with a smirk as Scarlet asked, "Wait, what?"

"Allow me to elucidate," the blue-haired woman added, "See, when Mother Grizzly is destroyed, I can choose a water type monster with fifteen hundred attack points or less from my deck and special summon it to the field, and I choose this one."

Scarlet hardly saw much of a threat before her when Katherine summoned a green shark with a torpedo strapped to his belly and spikes covering every other part of him. This was 'Misairuzame' and he had an attack power of fourteen hundred.

While this may not have seemed like much, though, Scarlet knew she might have to brace herself. After all, when a duellist had this many monsters out at once, it normally meant she had an ace up her sleeve. As such, the redhead watched Katherine carefully when her turn came to a close.

When the blue-haired woman drew her next card, a grin formed on her face as she said, "It's over for you."

Scarlet's eyes went wide as the blue mech pierced both monsters with its trident. A cloud of smoke formed around their corpses and they were soon replaced by large light-blue serpent with a large torso with fins that resembled the wings of a pterodactyl. With razor sharp fangs and two blade-shaped antennae on his head, this was 'Spiral Serpent' and he had an attack power of twenty-nine hundred.

"Oh no..." Scarlet uttered as the serpent headed toward Whiptail Crow and devoured him whole. He then proceeded to bite into Katherine's mech, bringing her vitality down to fifteen hundred.

Katherine smirked and said, "You may have a lot of monsters to defend yourself with right now, but it won't last much longer."

Scarlet slowly drew her next card with fear in her eyes. None of her monsters could overpower this one and the odds of her drawing one of her most useful cards for this situation were slim. But even so, she had to fight to the bitter end, especially considering how important this battle was.

As she saw the card she had drawn, though, the redhead saw something she could do. This would at least give her the protection she needed as she revealed a face-down card, a bug with a head that resembled a pitchfork named 'Parasite Paracide'. He only had an attack power of five hundred, but this hardly mattered as he left the field and warped into Katherine's mech.

Her deck was shuffled as she asked, "What just happened?" Scarlet remarking, "I am going out on a limb, but if you draw that card anytime soon, you won't be able to harm me."

The blue-haired woman was rather confused but chose not to question this as she shrugged and remarked, "Well, I doubt that's gonna happen. It's probably in the middle of my deck for all you know."

"Even so, I got nothing to lose at this point," the redhead remarked as she thought, 'I gotta do this without Damien's help. I can't rely on him to help me win this.'

As such, she activated a spell called 'Insect Barrier' and explained, "With this spell on the field, no insect type monsters can harm me," Katherine shaking her head and laughing before exclaiming, "Did you forget I have no insects in my deck!? Even if I draw that bug you sent into it, there's no way in hell I'd use it!"

Scarlet simply frowned and summoned a monster in defence mode before flipping Bladefly into the same position. But even so, Katherine was right. What were the odds of her drawing the parasite on her next turn?

And unfortunately for her, Katherine's next card was not the insect as she summoned a red ship with a skeleton as its figurehead. This was 'Skull Mariner' and had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

"Enjoy this while it lasts," Katherine said tauntingly, "You're finished on my next turn."

With all said and done, Skull Mariner floated toward Bladefly and pierced the bug with its bowsprit. The bug fell hard on her back and sank into the ground as Spiral Serpent proceeded to devour Scarlet's defending monster, 'Insect Soldiers of the Sky'.

"Too bad your barrier doesn't protect insects," Katherine said, "Then it would actually be useful," Scarlet taking a deep breath as she drew her next card.

She only had one monster and it was incredibly weak. Even so, she would lose even if it was played in defence mode and as such, she summoned a yellow caterpillar with purple armour covering its back. This was 'Leghul' and he had an attack power of three hundred.

"Oh my god, you really have nothing left, do you?" Katherine asked, her eyes wide open, "I'm honestly astounded! You had so much to use against me last time and yet now, you don't have anything! This is amazing!"

Scarlet gritted her teeth as Leghul lunged at the blue mech and bit into it, dropping its vitality to three thousand and fifty, the redhead explaining, "His effect allows him to attack an opponent's mech directly. If I'm gonna lose, I'll at least deal one last bit of damage to your mech."

"So you're trying to make it easier for anyone else who opposes me," Katherine said with a shrug, "That's actually quite commendable. I'll be nice and finish you off with my weaker monster."

But when she drew her next card, her eyes went wide as she had actually drawn 'Parasite Paracide'. As if that was not enough, the card was shot into her monster zone as it sunk its feelers into her mech, reducing her vitality to two thousand and fifty.

"Okay, I'll admit, that was actually a useful ability," Katherine stated, but it did not end there as soon, the parasite managed to infect her two monsters, all of them sprouting feelers like his.

She saw this as nothing and said, "Well, I gotta hand it to you, that was surprising, but this duel is still mine."

But when Skull Mariner floated toward Leghul, bright yellow lights shone in front of Scarlet's monster zone and prevented the ship from attacking. Katherine blinked and asked, "Is this a side effect of your card?"

"Actually, that's the effect granted by my Insect Barrier," Scarlet replied, "The other effect that Parasite Paracide has is to turn every one of your monsters into insect types, meaning you can't attack me."

Katherine's eye twitched as she groaned, "Whatever, I'll just sacrifice him the next chance I get."

"It doesn't work that way," the redhead remarked, "The only way you can get rid of him is if you have five monsters on your side of the field. That means I'll be protected for at least two more turns."

Katherine gritted her teeth and said, "Fine. That's not a long wait anyway," her turn coming to a close.

Scarlet drew her next card and was shocked to see it was her 'Y-Dragon Head'. Perhaps if she was lucky, she could end up with a really good combination, but right now, building up her defences was a much better idea, especially considering this chance might not last long.

As such, she summoned her monster in defence mode and had Leghul attack Katherine's mech again, her vitality now dropped to seventeen hundred and fifty.

Katherine had to admit her next draw was a bit of disappointment. But she knew she would have to persevere as she summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn. She would have done the same with Skull Mariner, but as his defence was only nine hundred, that would increase the odds of it being destroyed.

Scarlet gulped as she knew she could very well have only one turn to pull off a miracle. But as luck would have it, she had drawn 'Graceful Charity'. This allowed her to draw three cards at the price of two, but she did not have to discard until after the draw. As such, she activated the spell and drew her next three cards and could not believe her extreme luck.

She had drawn 'X-Head Cannon', 'Z-Metal Tank' and 'Malevolent Nuzzler'. If her next card was what she thought it was, this could easily work in her favour. But right now, she needed to at least keep Scarlet from fighting back as she discarded two cards from her hand and summoned her X-Head Cannon.

Katherine's eyes widened as she uttered, "Wait, you have machine cards in your deck too?" Scarlet shrugging and asking, "What? Did you think I only limited myself to a specific theme?" the blue-haired woman grumbling, "Yes."

With that, X-Head Cannon sent a blast from its shoulder cannons into Skull Mariner, the ship bursting into flames as it crumbled into a pile of ash. The machine then launched another blast into Katherine's mech as her vitality dropped to fifteen hundred and fifty. Leghul only added to the damage by bringing her vitality down to twelve hundred and fifty.

Now the blue-haired woman was scared as she drew her next card. Nothing in her hand could help her now and as such, she summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn.

As Scarlet drew her next card, a smile formed on her face as she said, "Well, you came close, but your luck has run out."

Katherine's eyes widened as the woman activated 'Polymerization'. Y-Dragon Head revealed himself as Z-Metal Tank took form, all three monsters coming together to form 'XYZ Dragon Cannon' with its twenty-eight hundred attack points.

Katherine stared in stunned silence and said, "Wow, you had that in your deck this whole time? Oh well, it's too weak to beat my Spiral Serpent."

"Not quite," Scarlet remarked as she activated 'Malevolent Nuzzler'. As such, a green demonic woman appeared and rubbed the metallic monster, raising his attack power to thirty-five hundred. Now Katherine was scared as it sent a powerful blast into the serpent. The monster let out a loud cry of pain and collapsed, his body sinking into the ground.

Katherine's mech then took in a blast of energy as her vitality dropped to six hundred and fifty. And, of course, Leghul only added to the damage and brought it down to three hundred and fifty. With all this in mind, Katherine knew that in two turns at the most, she would be done for.

But as she drew her next card, she refused to let herself lose. And luckily for her, she had drawn 'Swords of Revealing Light', the same card she had used to take care of Scarlet before. As such, she wasted no time activating it as the swords surrounded the redhead's side of the field.

"Oh no," Scarlet uttered as Katherine sighed, "Good, now not even your Leghul can attack me," the blue-haired woman summoning a monster in defence mode.

Scarlet took a deep breath and figured there was nothing Katherine could do anyway as she drew her next card. She then flipped her Leghul into defence mode and summoned a new monster in the same position.

As Katherine drew her next card, a smirk formed on her face as she said, "Well, you've done a good job, but your luck has run dry."

"Was that a water-related pun?" Scarlet remarked as the blue-haired woman retorted, "Of course not! Even I wouldn't sink that low!" her eyes narrowing as she sighed, "Dammit..."

With that in mind, she proceeded to summon a metallic skull with long tentacles coming from its mouth. This was 'Skull Kraken' and it had an attack power of six hundred. But as weak as the monster was, its effect was certainly helpful as it reached over to Scarlet's Malevolent Nuzzler, picked it up and crushed it.

As XYZ Dragon Cannon's attack reverted to twenty-eight hundred, Scarlet blinked and asked, "Why didn't you-?" only to realize that Katherine no longer had any free monster spaces. This meant Parasite Paracide would no longer be of use and as such, the monster was overwhelmed as its body could no longer handle any more victims.

As such, the bug's body expanded until it exploded, its green blood and guts flying everywhere. But even so, Katherine still had nothing strong enough to defeat Scarlet's monster, so the redhead was not too worried.

Though she was rather surprised when Skull Kraken switched to defence mode, Katherine explaining, "Oh yeah, once per turn, I can change his position."

Scarlet let out a sigh and drew her next card. In only the swords were gone, she could at least attack the woman. But at the moment, she had no choice but to set another monster and end her turn.

When Katherine's turn came and she drew her next card, a wide grin formed on her face as she said, "I got just the thing for you," as she sacrificed her Skull Kraken in exchange for a merman with the face of a cat. His name was 'Sea Lancer' and he had an attack power of thirteen hundred.

Scarlet blinked and asked, "What is that supposed to do?" Katherine grinning and replying, "I'm very glad you asked. See, I can equip every aqua type monster in my graveyard or removed from play to him. And that's seven monsters."

But as Scarlet braced herself for what was to come, she was rather surprised when this seemed to have no effect on the monster. She then blinked and said, "Your monster's still weak. Honestly, I'm surprised he's level five."

'Just you wait,' Katherine thought with a grimace, 'If I can draw the right equip spell next turn, this'll all be over for you.'

As Scarlet drew her next card, she remembered an equip spell she had been holding since the duel began. Not only that, but this was a spell she could make use of. As such, she discarded another equip spell from her hand and activated 'Armed Changer', attaching it to XYZ Dragon Cannon.

Katherine blinked and asked, "What exactly was that supposed to do? I don't see an attack increase or anything like that," Scarlet frowning as she said, "You'll see soon enough."

The redhead was also expecting the worst right now and as such, she flipped her monster to defence mode. After all, its defence power was sixteen hundred, so it was still powerful enough to take in an attack from any of Katherine's other monsters.

But as Katherine drew her next card, a smirk formed on her face as she said, "Your luck has just run out, just as I predicted."

Scarlet's eyes widened as she equipped 'Aqua Jet' to her Lancer. A boat motor latched itself to Lancer's back as his attack rose to twenty-three hundred, Scarlet still confused. Sure, this was an upgrade, but it was not much of an upgrade.

Katherine then summoned one more monster in defence mode and said, "Well, that ends my turn."

The redhead took a deep breath as the swords left the field, however, she was unsure of what to do next. On one hand, this was the perfect chance to strike. With XYZ Dragon Cannon's power as high as it was combined with Leghul, she could easily end this. But a part of her felt like something was up.

'No, I can't pass this up!' she thought, 'I have to take her down and quick!'

With this in mind, she flipped her Dragon Cannon into attack mode, but just as she was about to do the same with her Leghul, she gulped and thought, 'No, I'll save him for my next turn just in case.'

This was perfect as she had XYZ Dragon Cannon aim an attack straight for the lancer. However, Katherine smirked, Scarlet's eyes widening as the monster's attack suddenly rose to thirty-three hundred. As such, his trident halted the incoming attack as he redirected it back at the machine.

Once hit by its own blast, XYZ Dragon Cannon exploded as Scarlet's mech took in the blow, her vitality reduced to five hundred now. With that in mind, Katherine laughed as her monster's attack returned to twenty-three hundred, the blue-haired woman explaining, "I guess I should have mentioned this. If my monster is to be destroyed, I can sacrifice one of the monsters equipped to him and raise his attack by one thousand for the remainder of that turn!"

The redhead's eyes widened as she stared silently. She could not believe it. Did this mean Katherine was going to win?

No, she had to remember her equip card. Due to its effect, since XYZ Dragon Cannon had been destroyed, she could return any monster with an attack equal to or less than its power from her graveyard. Luckily, one of the cards she had discarded earlier after using 'Graceful Charity' was 'Dark Simorgh'. She figured she might get a chance to special summon him, but right now, she needed him as she added the bird to her hand.

Even so, his twenty-seven hundred attack points would not be enough. She needed one more card, and there was no way she would give up as she drew.

As luck would have it, her next card was 'Harpie's Feather Duster'. The redhead's eyes widened as she took a deep breath and said, "I'll admit, you came close, very close. But now it's all over for you."

"You can't be serious," Katherine groaned as Scarlet activated her spell. A gust of wind came from her mech and destroyed Aqua Jet as Sea Lancer's attack returned to normal. But despite this, Katherine did not seem the least bit worried as she smirked and said, "So you managed to lower his attack power. It's not like any of your monsters can destroy him now."

"So you think," Scarlet retorted as she sacrificed her two face-down monsters in order to summon 'Dark Simorgh'.

The dark-grey bird took form and unleashed a threatening crow as the blue-haired woman trembled, uttering, "No... you can't have something that powerful! I destroyed your best card!"

"Even so, my second-best card is still good enough to defeat you," Scarlet remarked as Simorgh unleashed a burst of dark energy from his mouth. Katherine sacrificed an equipped monster in a vain attempt to save herself but of course this meant nothing as Sea Lancer let out a loud cry of pain, his body vaporizing into nothing. Katherine's mech then took in the blast as her vitality dropped to zero, the blue-haired woman sighing as she ejected herself and took off.

"DAMMIT, I WAS SO CLOSE!" she cursed as Scarlet sighed, "Still a poor sport."

But while Scarlet, Matt and Steven had managed to defeat their own opponents, Drake, Morgan and Cindy had their own battles to fight. What had they been up to during this time? This would have to wait until later.


	33. Chapter 33

Damien, Morgan and Cindy were flying together as the general said, "You know, you two don't have to stay by my side. You can choose your own opponents to keep at bay."

"I don't know about that," Damien replied, "I get this feeling that I have to do this right now," Cindy adding, "I can't help thinking there's a good reason to go with you."

Morgan stared at Cindy's mech for a few seconds before saying, "Wow, you sounded really confident when you said that. You really have grown."

With all said and done, the general refused to say anymore as the trio headed onward. But while this went on, Taylor had come close as she noticed them. However, since Cindy was riding a new mech now, the purple-haired woman did not recognize her and the same would go for the pink-haired woman.

But as she got close, Morgan's eyes widened as she said, "So Glen's decided to take the lead. You two move on ahead. I got this one," Damien and Cindy nodding as they each flew past Taylor before she could declare a duel with either of them.

Morgan then smirked and pressed the 'engage' button as two orbs flew from the side of her mech and formed a transparent sphere around both mechs. With that, the general grinned and exclaimed, "Yeah! Looks like I'm going first! In your face, Glen!"

Taylor blinked and snickered, saying, "Oh, I wish I was my general, but unfortunately, I'm just piloting his old mech."

"Wait, you're not Glen?" Morgan remarked, Taylor and the mech both nodding in response as the woman explained, "General Glen has a new mech now, so he gave it to me. He says I'm good enough to pilot it, and I can't argue with that."

'Dammit!' the general thought, 'Oh well, maybe I can finish her off before Glen enters the area. But if she is that good, that might not be so easy.'

And it did seem so as Taylor had a slight edge. While her mech had forty-three hundred vitality, Morgan's had forty-two hundred. It was not a big difference but Taylor still had more.

As such, the woman drew six cards as her turn started. She had a rather good hand as she summoned a monster in defence mode and placed a card face-down in her spell zone. Her turn then came to a close as Taylor drew a sixth card of her own.

"Just so you know," the purple-haired woman stated, "I know you're the general of Crystal City, so I know you probably got a lot of tough cards in your deck. But mark my words, not even you can stand up to the likes of me. So far, I'm the only one who's ever defeated Drake in a duel."

Morgan's eyes and mouth were wide open, and this was true. Technically speaking, Damien had not really defeated Drake and if the two had continued their duel, the black-haired man would have lost for sure. Even so, the general could not back down as she said, "Alright, prove it."

"If you insist," Taylor replied as she placed two cards face-down in her spell zone and activated a spell called 'Allure of Darkness'. This allowed her to draw two cards at the cost of one dark monster.

"You're in trouble now," Taylor said as she drew her two cards and discarded 'Sillva, Warlord of Dark World'. Due to his effect, she was able to summon him from the graveyard to the field, the black demon taking form with his twenty-three hundred attack points.

Morgan's eyes widened with shock. It was only Taylor's first turn and she had already drawn out a very powerful monster. And it did not end there as she summoned 'Card Guard', a robotic stingray taking form with sixteen hundred attack points.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot this bad boy's effect," the purple-haired woman stated as Card Guard was equipped with a 'Guard Counter'. With this, his attack power rose to nineteen hundred while Morgan simply smirked and thought, 'Not bad, but my monster is still too powerful for yours.'

Since Taylor could not see Morgan's expression, she wasted no time as she had Sillva head toward the defending monster with his blade at the ready. However, it seemed her efforts would be in vain as the monster in question was 'Destiny Hero Defender' with twenty-seven hundred defence points.

"How can such a low level monsters have such a high defence power!?" Taylor exclaimed as Morgan smirked and replied, "It's because of his low attack power."

However, it seemed Taylor had a backup plan as she revealed one of her traps, 'Rising Energy' to be exact. At the cost of one card from her hand, Sillva's attack power rose to thirty-eight hundred.

As such, the sword managed to slice through Defender as his upper body fell sideways off of his lower body. But rather than being mortified, Morgan had a serious look on her face as she said, "Luckily, I was prepared for this."

She then revealed her own trap, 'Destiny Mirage'. Once a Destiny Hero was destroyed, this trap could bring all Destiny Heroes who were destroyed that turn back to the field. Since Defender was the only one, that was the only monster she could bring back and that was fine by her.

Unfortunately, Taylor had other plans as she revealed her other trap, 'Seven Tools of the Bandit'. The purple-haired woman's vitality dropped to thirty-three hundred as a bandit leapt out of the card and used the tools in a pocket knife to disable Destiny Mirage and have it destroyed.

"No..." Morgan uttered as Taylor smirked and asked, "Was that really the best you had this turn?" as Card Guard flew toward the human-like mech and struck it with one of his fins. This brought Morgan's vitality down to twenty-three hundred.

Sure, Sillva's attack also returned to normal, but now Morgan really needed to step up her game. In only one move, Taylor had managed to reduce her vitality to just slightly above half. And to end her turn, Taylor had Card Guard shift his guard counter over to Sillva as his attack returned to sixteen hundred.

Morgan blinked in confusion and asked, "What was that supposed to do?" Taylor explaining, "Well, any other monster equipped with a guard counter can withstand one attack, and quite frankly, I do not wish to have my Sillva destroyed any time soon."

Luckily, Morgan did have a spell she could work with now as she activated it. This was known as 'Over Destiny' and it allowed her to special summon a destiny hero from her deck with a level equal to or less than that of a monster in her graveyard. Since Defender was level four, this gave her plenty to work with as she brought out a young man with green spandex under silver armour. He had a missile-like attachments on his left hand and long blue hair and went by the name 'Destiny Hero Blade Master'.

Taylor blinked and asked, "Okay, does this guy have some kind of super effect or something because three hundred attack points isn't particularly threatening."

"He's not all I have planned for this turn," Morgan remarked as she had her monster stab Blade Master with its laser blade.

In exchange, a slender cyborg appeared with wheels attached to its feet and hands. With a purple chin, this monster was 'Destiny Hero Dasher' and had an attack power of twenty-one hundred.

Taylor nodded and said, "Well, that's definitely an improvement, but still no match for my Sillva."

"Just wait," Morgan remarked as she activated the field spell 'Dark City'. With that, many buildings filled up the sphere as Taylor looked around and asked, "What is this?"

"If a Destiny Hero attacks and has a lower power than the opponent, his attack rises by one thousand," Morgan explained with a smirk, "In other words, your Sillva is screwed."

"Did you already forget about his guard counter?" Taylor retorted as Morgan said, "Nope, I remembered."

With that, she activated a spell called 'Twin Swords of Flashing Light Tryce'. At the cost of the last card in Morgan's hand, two swords formed in Dasher's hands as his attack power dropped to six hundred, Taylor blinking and asking, "What the hell was that supposed to accomplish?"

"It might not seem like much, but now my Dasher can attack twice for each battle phase," Morgan explained as the purple-haired woman's eyes and mouth widened, the general adding, "Oh, there's one more thing."

As it just so happened, the monster Morgan had discarded was 'Destiny Hero Malicious', and when he was in the graveyard, he could be removed from play to allow Morgan to special summon another Malicious from her deck. As such, the general did just that and summoned the same monster in defence mode.

He was rather intimidating as he was a demon with three horns, big back wings and the lower body of a bull. However, his attack and defence were only eight hundred, so it was best to keep him in defence mode.

Dasher sped toward Sillva and struck the beast with one of the swords as his attack power rose to twenty-six hundred. Sillva sacrificed his guard counter to stop the attack but was ultimately defeated by the second sword, the demon falling on his back and sinking into the ground.

Taylor gritted her teeth as Dasher proceeded to strike her mech, bringing her vitality down to three thousand. Sure, Morgan had used up her entire hand, but it was worth it in the end.

"There's a reason I'm Crystal City's general," Morgan said with a smirk as Taylor frowned and drew her next card. It seemed luck was on her side as she had drawn the perfect spell.

She wasted no time as she activated 'Gateway to Dark World', Morgan gulping as this card allowed Taylor to return a Dark World monster from her graveyard to the field. Needless to say, she used this opportunity to return Sillva as the black demon took form once again.

"Aw, come on!" Morgan whined as Taylor smirked and said, "Well, that wasn't a bad counter, but I'm prepared for stuff like this."

As if that was not enough, Dasher's attack power was only sixteen hundred now, so Morgan was set to take in even more damage. Thus Sillva wasted no time as he charged toward the the hero and sliced him in two. He then struck Morgan's mech and dropped her vitality down to sixteen hundred.

The general winced as Card Guard used his fin to knocked Malicious hard on his back, the hero sinking into the ground. But luckily, Morgan had one more in her deck and thus, she removed the second hero from play in order to bring out a third one.

"I see," Taylor said with a smirk, "So you're upping your defences. That won't help you too much, though."

Morgan frowned as the purple-haired woman added, "I have to admit, I'm a tad disappointed. For a general, you don't seem all that tough."

"Shut up!" Morgan retorted as she drew her next card. Luckily for her, she had drawn 'Pot of Greed' and she wasted no time activating it, thus allowing her to draw two new cards. She then activated a spell called 'Destiny Draw' and sacrificed a weak Destiny Hero from her hand in exchange for two new cards.

When she drew her next two cards, a smirk formed as Taylor said, "So you've given up your hand in exchange for two cards twice. Do you have something actually useful now?"

"You bet I do," Morgan remarked as she placed one card face-down in her spell zone. She then summoned 'Destiny Hero Diamond Dude', the man clad in diamonds taking form.

"I see," Taylor said, "You're gonna use that field spell of yours to take out my Sillva. Fine by me. Card Guard will just destroy him once my turn comes."

'Shows how much you know,' Morgan thought as the man charged toward Sillva. And as predicted, Dark City rose his attack power to twenty-four hundred as he sent a hard diamond-encrusted punch to Sillva's face. The demon fell on his back and sank into the ground as Diamond Dude then sent a blow to Taylor's mech, her vitality dropping to twenty-nine hundred.

However, when Morgan's turn came to a close, Taylor had to admit she was rather confused as she said, "Something just occurred to me. You totally could have had that Malicious card of yours destroy my Card Guard."

"You're right," Morgan replied, "But right now, I don't think it's worth it. My vitality is fifteen hundred. Who's to say you don't have something that can deal that much damage?"

"Smart," Taylor replied as she drew her next card. This was at least useful as she activated it, a spell called 'Dark World Dealings' to be exact. This allowed each soldier to draw one card in exchange for another.

Since Morgan had no other cards besides the one she drew, she had no choice but to discard it. Of course, Taylor only had two cards left in her hand as she placed one card face-down in her spell zone. The monster in her hand was certainly powerful enough to destroy Malicious, but she chose to play it safe and instead summoned it in defence mode.

"Well, you've kept me at bay, but your monster's going bye-bye!" Taylor exclaimed as Card Guard flew toward Diamond Dude. But just as the attack was about to connect, Morgan revealed her face-down card, a trap called 'D-Chain'. Taylor's eyes widened as she uttered, "You've gotta be kidding."

This trap became an equip card after activation, so naturally Morgan had it equipped to Diamond Dude as it bound itself to his left arm. This rose his attack power to nine hundred as he used it to pierce Card Guard's armour, the stingray collapsing and sinking into the ground.

Diamond Dude then sent a punch to Taylor's mech and reduced her vitality to twenty-six hundred. However, it did not end there as the spike attached to the chain lashed out at the mech and struck it as well, bringing its vitality down to twenty-one hundred.

"How?" Taylor uttered as Morgan smirked and explained, "Not only does D-Chain increase my monster's attack points, but it inflicts five hundred points of damage every time the equipped monster destroys an opposing monster."

Now the purple-haired woman could see it, the reason Morgan was a general. Sure, her monsters were weak, but she knew how to make use of them regardless. And to make matters worse for Taylor, Morgan's turn had just started.

The general drew her next card and smirked before saying, "Well, I just keep getting luckier and luckier."

As she said this, she activated 'Monster Reborn' as her Dasher returned to the field. Now Taylor was scared as the cyborg raced toward her defending monster. But as he was about to strike, the purple-haired woman remembered her trap card and now was the perfect time to use it.

The card in question was 'Threatening Roar', Morgan's eyes widening as Taylor's mech unleashed a sound wave that ended her battle phase. The general took a deep breath and prepared for the worst. Sure, Taylor would need to have incredible luck to draw a really good card next turn, but after what both soldiers had pulled off so far, Morgan would not take any chances.

And as Taylor drew her next card, a light tear fell from her eye as she sighed, "Thank god," Morgan staring in confusion as the purple-haired woman proceeded to sacrifice her monster, her mech's chain mace crushing him.

In place of the monster, 'Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World' took form with his twenty-three hundred attack points. With this in mind, Taylor wasted no time as she had the demon slice Dasher in two with his axe.

Once again, Dasher sank into the ground as Goldd proceeded to strike Morgan's mech, her vitality now reduced to thirteen hundred. But as Morgan drew her next card, she smirked and said, "That's a nice monster you got there, but have you already forgotten about my field spell?"

Taylor's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "OH NO! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THAT!"

Morgan did not have much use for the card in her hand, so she simply had Diamond Dude race toward Goldd as his attack rose to twenty-nine hundred. The demon took a fierce blow to the face as he fell hard on his back and sank into the ground, Diamond Dude striking Taylor's mech hard and bringing her vitality down to fifteen hundred. But it of course did not end there as her chain added to the damage and reduced Taylor's vitality to one thousand.

"Dammit!" the purple-haired woman groaned, "Wait, why aren't you using your other monster?" Morgan replying, "I would, but Malicious only has eight hundred attack points. Lord knows what you might be able to pull off if I flip him into attack mode."

Taylor let out a sigh and drew her next card. If she was lucky, she would draw something really helpful. But when she saw her card, she knew it was over as she ended her turn and said, "Alright, go on. Finish me off. I can take it."

Morgan smirked and drew her next card, saying, "Alright, but because you've been such a great opponent, I'll take you down with style!"

Taylor's eyes widened as Morgan's mech unleashed its laser blade. It then flew toward the white mech and pierced it hard before finishing off with an outward strike. This dealt exactly one thousand damage as Taylor's mech had zero vitality. As such, the purple-haired woman took a deep breath and propelled herself out of her seat, taking off with a jet pack. With this battle being so important, she could not help but feel ashamed of herself. But at least she had dealt a lot of damage to the general, so it was not a complete waste of effort.

While this went on, Damien and Cindy continued to fly forward while the minor soldiers were held up by the others. However, they both came to a halt when they noticed Drake there. As it just so happened, Glen had ordered him to fly further ahead to provide a distraction in case someone of high status entered the area.

All Drake had to do was see the vitality of Damien's mech as he stopped before him and said, "Well, you've got quite the impressive mech. Guess I should face you, eh?" Damien sighing, "I guess it was inevitable that the two of us duel again."

"Again?" Drake asked as both his eyes and the mech's eyes widened, the blue-haired man barking, "Wait, you mean you had your mech replaced with that!?" Damien replying, "Yeah. Morgan wouldn't have given it to me if you hadn't destroyed my mother's old mech, so thanks."

But just as Drake was about to initiate the start of a duel, Cindy got in front of Damien and squeaked, "Wait!" Damien's eyes widening as he thought, 'Cindy?'

"What are you doing?" Damien asked as the pink-haired woman remarked, "I'm sorry. I know you probably wanna face him, but if it's true that their general has a super powered mech, you should be the one to face him!"

"But you're going up against Drake!" Damien remarked before adding, "And he has a bomb strapped to him."

"He has a good point," Drake stated as Cindy retorted, "I don't care! I don't know why, but I just feel like I should be the one to face him! Please understand!"

Damien stared for a few seconds before nodding his head and replying, "Well, alright, but be careful. And try not to let him use the bomb on the base."

"You got it!" Cindy exclaimed as she had her mech give his thumbs up and hit the red button to initiate the duel. Now Drake knew he had no choice but to face her, but for some reason, Cindy was the one soldier he did not wish to fight. Sure, he had to protect the bomb, but he was at least okay with any other opponent who got the drop on him. Cindy was an exception.

Either way, the two would have duel as both drew five cards, Cindy drawing a sixth. One thing was for certain: this would certainly be the toughest duel Cindy had ever been in.


	34. Chapter 34

Cindy and Drake's duel had just started up as the pink-haired woman was a tad nervous about this. And she had all the reason to be. After all, even with her new mech, Drake greatly overpowered her. Not only was his mech's attack power eight hundred, but his vitality was five thousand. All the while, Cindy's new mech was only a small improvement over her old one.

Her vitality was twenty-eight hundred, which was only a tiny bit more than half of Drake's. And with her new pink mallet, her mech's attack had risen to three hundred. But even so, she would not let this get her down as she looked through her hand.

"Tell me," Drake said before she could come up with her first move, "why would you challenge me? You know how strong I am, right? Like your friend said, I'm the only other soldier holding a bomb right now. If you lose, you run the risk of me blowing up your base."

"I know, but I'd rather face you than anyone else," Cindy remarked, "I'm the only one who knows you for who you really are. You're a good guy."

"I don't see why that would make you want to face me, but alright," Drake replied with a shrug, Cindy adding, "I know you're fighting for your sister, and I hate to get in the way of that, but I fight for my own side! I have no idea how or why this war started, but if there's a chance we can win this, I won't give up!"

The pink-haired woman looked over her hand again and noticed two cards that could help her. As such, she summoned a monster in defence mode and ended her turn.

Once Cindy's turn was over, Drake drew a sixth card of his own and asked, "Say, just out of curiosity, how did things go between you and Damien? Did you take my advice?"

"Yes, I did," Cindy replied with a light smile, "Thank you so much for helping me out. Though it seems a relationship between us wasn't meant to be. Now he and my best friend are together, but I'm okay because they have more in common anyway."

"Good to know you're being mature about it," Drake said with a grin as he activated 'Red Medicine'. A beaker with a red liquid appeared as Drake's mech splashed it on itself, raising its vitality to fifty-five hundred.

The blue-haired man then proceeded to place a card face-down in his spell zone and summon a floating sphere with a big mask covering each side of it. This was 'Melchid the Four-Face Beast' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

Melchid flipped over to a red mask with a large gaping mouth as it unleashed a beam from it toward the defending monster. Cindy smiled lightly as her monster was a submarine with large cartoon eyes named 'Submarineroid'. Since his defence power was eighteen hundred, Melchid's beam bounced off of him and hit Drake's mech hard, his vitality now reduced to fifty-two hundred.

"Have to say, I did not see that coming," the man said with a smirk. Luckily, he did not have to worry about his bomb being knocked off as the hinges had been made stronger than last time.

"There was a time where this was the only kind of move I could rely on," Cindy said with a grin as her turn started up, "All I ever did was play monsters with high attack or defence power in the hopes that I wouldn't lose, but now, I use actual strategy! Damien helped me with that!"

She then flipped her Submarineroid into attack mode and summoned another monster in defence mode. Before Drake could even ask why her submarine with only eight hundred attack points was in attack mode, the pink-haired woman had him unleash a missile from his hands below Melchid and strike the blue-haired man's mech, reducing his vitality to forty-four hundred.

"I see," the man replied with a smile, "Not a bad tactic," and he was even more impressed when the submarine returned to defence mode.

Drake's next draw was not as good as he had hoped it would be and as such, he activated a spell called 'Upstart Goblin'. This allowed him to draw one card, but in exchange, the goblin hurled a potion into Cindy's mech that rose her vitality to thirty-eight hundred.

His next draw was not a great one, but it was one he could certainly work with as he summoned his 'Ryu-Kishin Powered', the pink gargoyle taking form. But just as Drake started his battle phase, Cindy seemed to have this all planned out as she activated two quick-play spell cards from her hand.

The first was 'Book of Moon'. A large book opened up before Melchid and shone a bright light in his face. To avoid being blinded, the monster flipped himself over into face-down defence mode thus he was unable to attack.

The next card was 'Enemy Controller', and it seemed to have roughly the same effect as a big video game controller appeared and latched itself to Ryu-Kishin Powered. A few buttons were pressed as soon enough, the gargoyle suffered the same fate and was forced into defence mode.

"Impressive," Drake said with his eyes wide open, "You managed to avoid taking in damage. You really are something."

Cindy nodded as she drew her next card and said, "Don't think I'm gonna make this easier just because you're nice," Drake replying, "I want to earn my victory, so don't you dare hold back."

The pink-haired woman then did something rather shocking as she summoned a small red toy car named 'Decoyroid'. This machine had a very small attack power of only three hundred making this a very questionable move to say the least.

Before Drake could even ask about this, Submarineroid once again attacked him directly with his torpedo. This brought his vitality down to thirty-six hundred as he thought, 'Alright, I need to get rid of that submarine and quick. She played that weak monster to draw my attention away from him because thanks to me, she has the vitality to risk it. Even so, damage or no damage, that submarine is a major threat.'

As he drew his next card, his spirits lifted as he could not have asked for a better draw right now. With this in mind, he sacrificed both of his monsters, Cindy's eyes widening as the blade arms formed on the blue-haired man's mech, slicing his monsters into pieces. He then summoned his 'Dark Magician', the mage taking form and striking a serious pose.

Cindy bit her lip and thought, 'No, this is what I prepared for. I had a feeling he'd have something like this. That's why I summoned Decoyroid. It's worth it!'

As such, she braced herself as the mage was about to fire a magic blast toward Submarineroid. However, Decoyroid released a rather strong sound wave from its antenna as Dark Magician held his hand up against his ear. Unfortunately, he was unable to block out the sound as he subconsciously turned toward the toy car and pointed his staff toward it instead.

"What's he doing?" Drake asked as Cindy stated, "Let's just say there's a reason my monster has the word 'decoy' in his name," a light giggle coming from her mouth as she said, "Wow, that sounded pretty cool."

The mage then sent a magic blast into the car and blew it up, the magic hitting Cindy's mech hard as her vitality dropped to sixteen hundred. Sure, that was a lot of damage and hardly seemed worth it, but she needed her Submarineroid in play just a bit longer.

"I have to say, I did not see that coming," Drake said as Cindy sighed, "Yeah, but it was worth it."

She then drew her next card and placed it face-down in her spell zone. But that was not the end of her move as she sacrificed her face-down monster. Her mech flattened the monster with its mallet as a cloud of smoke surrounded the area, a new monster taking form.

This was a sky-blue pickup truck named 'Rescueroid' and he had an attack power of sixteen hundred. Once again, a strange move, but as long as Drake went for her Submarineroid, it would be worth it.

The submarine in question launched his torpedo into Drake again, his vitality now down to twenty-eight hundred as Cindy ended her turn and thought, 'Alright, this is it.'

As the blue-haired man drew his next card, he felt prepared as he summoned 'Infernity Archfiend' in attack mode. Cindy whimpered in response to this as Drake said, "I have no idea what that Rescueroid of yours does, but I can't run the risk of him using any effects."

Cindy had hoped to use her trap on Dark Magician, but right now, she needed him to survive. As such, she revealed her face-down card, a trap called 'Sakuretsu Armour'. At that moment, a powerful armour surrounded the truck's body as Archfiend's attack bounced off of him and went right back into the monster. Archfiend's body decayed as a result while Drake stared wide-eyed.

"Once again, you surprise me," Drake stated, "but even so, you really should have used that on my Dark Magician. Luckily for you, though, I'd much rather have your Submarineroid gone than your Rescueroid."

As such, the mage sent a blast of magic into the submarine and caused him to explode. However, Cindy had hoped that particular machine would be Drake's next target as due to Rescueroid's effect, Submarineroid was immediately returned to her hand.

"I see," Drake said, "With Rescueroid on the field, your monster remains in your hand. Unfortunately for you, I have a backup plan."

As such, the man activated 'Monster Reborn' as Infernity Archfiend returned to the field. Now Cindy was nervous again as she drew her next card.

She could not believe her good fortune. Of all the cards, she had just drawn 'Steamroid'. This may not have seemed like much for the time being, but she also had 'Drillroid' in her hand. If she could draw the right card on her next turn, she could very well end this duel.

But until then, she needed to delay Drake a little bit longer and luckily, she had just enough vitality for this to work. She just needed the blue-haired man to attack her train first, and as such, she flipped her Rescueroid into defence mode. Since he had eighteen hundred defence points, it would not be easy for Drake to destroy him with any other monster.

As such, Cindy summoned her Steamroid as the train took form with eighteen hundred attack points. He then proceeded to charge toward Infernity Archfiend as Drake rose an eyebrow. However, Cindy's strategy became clear when Steamroid's attack went up to twenty-three hundred.

Archfiend was run over as a result as his blood and guts splattered all over the place. The train then proceeded to ram himself into Drake's mech as his vitality dropped to twenty-three hundred.

"So your monster has a useful effect," Drake said with a sigh, "I was going to take down that Rescueroid of yours, but it seems that Steamroid of yours is a much bigger threat."

Cindy bit her lower lip as she knew what was coming. Drake drew his next card and summoned a monster named 'Needle Ball' in defence mode. This was a very weak monster, but its effect could very well guarantee him a victory. When flip-summoned, it dealt one thousand damage to an opponent's vitality in exchange for two thousand of Drake's, meaning he would have three hundred left while Cindy had zero.

Of course, that would only be guaranteed once Steamroid was defeated, and since his attack had reverted to eighteen hundred, this looked very likely, and it only looked better for the blue-haired man when Steamroid's attack power dropped to thirteen hundred.

"Ah, so his biggest strength is also his biggest weakness," Drake stated as Dark Magician sent a blast of dark magic into the train. Steamroid exploded as a result as the magic then struck Cindy's mech, the pink-haired woman's vitality now reduced to four hundred. Of course the monster did return to her hand, but Drake had no reason to worry as he knew Steamroid was not strong enough to defeat his Dark Magician.

"I have to admit, you're almost as good as Damien," Drake said, "Your monsters are nowhere near as impressive when it comes to power, but you really know how to make the best use of each one. It's not often an opponent brings me this low in vitality."

Cindy blushed bright as she squeaked, "Really!?" Drake and his mech both nodding as he replied, "Trust me, you're a very good duellist."

Cindy nodded and thought, 'That's right. It looks hopeless now, but I can still win this. I just need one of two cards and it'll all be over.'

As she drew her next card, her eyes widened. As luck would have it, Cindy had just drawn 'Polymerization'. Either this or Power Bond would have worked, so she was beyond ecstatic with this result.

"You really are as good as they say, but I'm afraid I'm gonna be the one to end your strong track record," Cindy said with a sweet smile, "Sorry it had to be me and not Damien."

"Honestly, after the way you've duelled, I wouldn't have it any other way," Drake replied, however, he had a feeling the pink-haired woman was going to use a fusion summon. He had been told of the duellist who had finished off Bruce with a deck full of Roid monsters and fusion cards. He figured this was the one thing she could do at this point.

In fact, the trap he had placed face-down on his first turn was 'Chthonian Polymer'. This allowed him to take control a fusion monster after it was summoned at the cost of one monster, and he would tribute his defending monster if he had to. Sure, it would throw off his initial strategy, but it would only allow him to hit Cindy with a powerful direct attack.

However, it seemed Drake's tactic would not succeed as Cindy said, "Before I finish you off, though, I need to take care of that card you've had face-down since this duel began. Something my friend Scarlet always told me was to use logic when coming up with a strategy, and for all I know, that card of yours could ruin everything."

'She saw right through me,' the blue-haired man thought with his eyes and mouth wide open as Cindy activated a spell called 'Giant Trunade'. A big gust of wind came from her mech and forced Drake's trap back into his hand as he thought, 'Oh well, I doubt this monster will be enough to reduce my vitality to zero anyway.'

Cindy activated her Polymerization as Steamroid, Drillroid and Submarineroid appeared on the field. Steamroid first broke himself into small pieces as Drillroid inserted his motor into himself. This strangely allowed him to expand in size and turn pink as he attached Steamroid's chrome to his mouth. His drills also transformed into hands with big metal claws while Submarineroid attached himself to his back.

With that, all three monsters had combined to form 'Super Vehicroid Jumbo Drill'. With his attack power at three thousand, there was no doubt this monster would certainly be able to defeat Dark Magician.

The robot's drill activated as he burrowed himself into the ground. Drake gulped as after a few seconds, Jumbo Drill rose up and blasted straight through Dark Magician, the mage coughing up a lot of blood as he passed out and sank into the ground. The cyborg then ended the battle phase by striking Drake's mech, bringing his vitality down to eighteen hundred.

The man's eyes were wide open as now he sighed, "Excellent job," drawing his next card before asking, "Why didn't you attack my defending monster as well?"

"Because I'm trying to think logically," Cindy replied, "I may have destroyed your monster, but I only have four hundred vitality left. Even with my Rescueroid's attack power being as high as it is, I can't risk him being destroyed while in attack mode."

"Wow, you really thought this through," the man replied as he took a deep breath and summoned a monster in defence mode. Thus he ended his turn as he thought, 'Sorry, sis, I won't use my monster's special effect.'

Not only was Needle Ball's effect optional, but without two thousand vitality, he could not use the monster's effect anyway. So he knew he had no choice but to accept his fate.

As such, Cindy did not even bother to summon a monster as she said, "By the way, my Jumbo Drill has a special effect. When he attacks a defending monster, the owner takes in damage to his vitality," Drake's eyes going wide as Cindy was just about to initiate her attack.

But just as she was about to do so, she stopped in her tracks and bit her lower lip. Sure, this was for her team, but at the same time, Damien had dreamed of winning this war for his little sister. How could Cindy rob him of that chance?

"Aren't you going to attack?" Drake asked as Cindy shook her head and replied, "No, you really should win this. I'll just forfeit and then you can continue."

Drake's eyes widened as he remembered back when his little sister could still walk. She was a young girl with long blue hair, much like Drake's. At the time, she was thirteen but now she was fourteen and her name was Rebecca.

Drake would always take time out of his schedule to play with her. Sure, he may have been seventeen at the time, but even he had all the time in the world for his kid sister. Their bond was much stronger than that of any brother and sister. Even after reaching her teen years, Rebecca still looked up to Drake despite some of her peers teasing her about it.

She was picked on a lot by girls her age, and whenever she came home after a bad day she would always come to Drake with tears in her eyes. However, Drake would always dry those tears and reassure her that everything was okay. He knew that someday, she would make some really good friends, but she had to swear never to cave into the norms of society.

And every time he told her this, Rebecca would always give him the cutest smile in the world and squeal, "You're the best big brother ever!"

Drake let out a sigh and shook his head, saying, "You know what? I've had the wrong idea this whole time. I don't think she'll care if I'm the one who ended the war or not, so go ahead. You've earned this victory."

Cindy beamed bright and replied, "Thank you," as she had Jumbo Drill go for the face-down Needle Ball. And as the blue sphere with a demonic grin on his face took form, the mechanical mole ploughed through him as his entire body exploded.

Drake took a deep breath as Jumbo Drill hit his mech hard, bringing his vitality down to zero as he said, "Great job, Cindy," the man ejecting himself from his seat and taking off. Cindy, all the while, took hold of the bomb he had been carrying and hurled it away from the area just in time for the explosion not to effect anyone.

'I hope you can win this, Glen,' Drake thought as he decided to land in a safe area nearby to see how the rest of the battle played out. As a matter of fact, the others had also flown here as the blue-haired man was rather surprised.

Even so, things were looking really good for Crystal City as the five strongest soldiers they had were dealt with. Now all that remained was the general and if he was defeated, his entire plan would be a bust.


	35. Chapter 35

While the bombs from New Domino had been taken care of, Glen was still determined to at least do something to Crystal City's base. As such, he pressed on ahead when he saw two explosions go off away from the battlefield at the same time.

'So Aadil and Drake failed,' he thought, 'No matter, I didn't really need them for my plan anyway. Little to they know what I really have in store.'

He then noticed a big blue mech flying toward him as he stared with confusion. Sure, it was a different colour, but it looked almost exactly like Emma's mech, the one that had been destroyed. No, there was just no way it could be that mech.

However, he did feel rather alarmed when he read the mech's stats and saw that it had sixty-five hundred vitality. Sure, his mech had eighty-three hundred, but more than six thousand was rare for even the most expensive of mechs.

With this in mind, he knew he would have to avoid facing this one if his plan was to work, but there was now way Damien would let him pass when he saw him. He may not have known exactly what mech Glen would pilot, but he recognized its shoulder and chest pieces anywhere and as such, the man figured this must be him.

When he saw the black mech take to the sky, he immediately pursued only for Glen to pass right by him with a smirk on his face. It seemed his plan had worked as everyone else was too distracted to go after him.

No, there was no way Damien would lose this chance. With that in mind, he set his rocket thrusters to full gear, a gear higher than any other mech had ever been able to achieve. He flew toward Glen for half-a-minute until he was closed enough, the man hitting the 'engage' button as the orbs flew out and stopped between the two.

Glen let out a groan as the sphere formed around them, Damien asking, "Tell me, are you Glen?"

"Yes, I am," the general replied, "Honestly, I'm surprised. I would have expected Morgan to come after me," the black-haired man replying, "Yeah, well, I think she mistook one of your other soldiers for you."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot I'd given Taylor my old mech," Glen replied, "But how did you figure I was in this one? Did you not jump to the same conclusion?" Damien replying, "I just had a feeling. Who else would pilot a mech with over eight thousand vitality?"

"I can't say that's the best logic, but you're just a mere soldier," the man remarked, Damien saying, "Actually, I'm more than just some old soldier. I'm Emma's son."

Glen's eyes went wide, his jaw dropped. This could not have been any worse for him. Not only was he facing the son of Crystal City's former general but her old mech had been replaced by a significantly stronger one.

Even so, the man shook his head and remarked, "That hardly matters. I don't care who you are. No one is going to stop me, so make your first move already so I can show you why I'm the general of New Domino!"

Damien shrugged and looked over his cards. He saw only a few good options as he summoned a monster in defence mode and ended his turn.

"That's it?" Glen remarked with a smirk, "I expected better from Emma's son, but oh well."

After his first draw, the man started his turn with a field spell called 'Necrovalley'. Damien blinked as a mountainous region formed within the sphere, Glen stating, "Just to let you know, when Necrovalley is in play, monsters in the graveyard can only be effected by their own effects. That means if you want to revive a monster with something like, say, Monster Reborn, it won't work."

'Damn,' Damien thought with a frown, 'A lot of my victories have relied on me using that card. But no matter. I'm sure I can handle it.'

Though what Glen did next was rather shocking. Rather than choosing a monster who he could attack with, he instead summoned a monster of his own in defence mode. He then placed one card face-down in his spell zone and ended his turn.

"Alright, go ahead," he said with a smirk, "Show me what you got."

As Damien drew his next card, he noticed one of his monsters was 'Twinheaded Beast'. However, he remembered what happened the last time he tried to use this monster and for all he knew, Glen might have a way to counter this. After all, it was rather suspicious that he chose to play a monster in defence mode as opposed to using this opportunity to attack.

With that in mind, the man summoned 'Fire Kraken' to the field and flipped his face-down monster into attack mode. This monster was a yellow tank with a human torso named 'Guardian of the Throne Room' and he had an attack power of sixteen hundred and fifty.

"I'll admit, that's not a bad monster to start with," Glen said as he revealed his face-down card. This was a trap known as 'Coffin Seller', and when he activated it, a man in a dark-purple cloak appeared and sat on top of the card while coffins surrounded him.

"What does that do?" Damien asked as Glen explained, "I'm very glad you asked. See, every time a monster is sent to the graveyard, you take in three hundred damage to your vitality. So if you destroy my face-down monster, well, guess what'll happen."

"If I still had my mother's mech, I'd be slightly worried," Damien remarked, "but I'm not going to let that get to me," Glen all the while thinking, 'Oh, you will.'

With that in mind, Damien had his Guardian send a missile from his back toward the defending monster. However, he had even more of a reason to worry when the monster in question was revealed to be a deformed human man with red skin, visible veins all over his body, a black vest, green pants and a collar-like helmet strapped to his head. This was 'Newdoria' and he had an attack power of twelve hundred.

But while he also had a meagre defence of eight hundred, thus making him easy pickings, Damien would soon realize how this could possibly get worse when the missiles turned his body to ash. Though that would have to wait as the man in the cloak held up his hand and transferred a sphere of energy from Damien's mech, placing it in one of the coffins. This reduced the man's vitality to sixty-two hundred as he frowned.

"By the way, it doesn't end there," Glen said as suddenly, Newdoria's hands rose up from under Fire Kraken and pulled the octopus under, Damien's eyes widening a little bit when his vitality dropped to fifty-nine hundred.

"When Newdoria is destroyed, he takes an opponent with him," Glen explained, "I would have taken your Guardian, but if I had, your kraken would have attacked me directly and I simply couldn't allow that."

Winston and Celeste had just finished a duel with one of Crystal City's soldiers when they noticed Damien's mech going up against Glen's. Both blinked as Winston said, "Well, I feel sorry for the Crystal City sucker who challenged our boss."

"Oh yes," Celeste replied, "I imagine this will end rather quickly."

It seemed like their prediction might be true as Damien had nothing left to use. As such, he ended his turn and sighed, "Well, let's see what else you got in store."

"Yes, let's give this a go, shall we?" Glen asked with a smirk as he summoned a thin robot. This monster had a yellow upper body and a blue sphere as its lower body. Its feet, hands, knees, elbows, shoulders and even its face were all drills. This was 'Drillago' and it had an attack power of sixteen hundred.

"What the hell is that supposed to accomplish?" Damien asked with a look of confusion, "Your monster is clearly weaker than mine."

"True, but his effect makes it all worth it," Glen remarked with a smirk, "Sure, I run the risk of losing a bit of vitality next turn, but for nineteen hundred damage to you, it's worth it."

"Nineteen hundred?" Damien remarked as the robot rushed forward, swerving past Guardian of the Throne Room and striking the blue mech hard, its vitality now reduced to forty-three hundred.

'I get it now,' Damien thought, 'He means Drillago's attack combined with the damage dealt to me when I destroy him. Well, he's got another thing coming.'

"Did that catch you off-guard?" Glen asked with a smirk, "See, if the only monsters on your side of the field are face-up monsters with sixteen hundred attack points or more, Drillago can attack you directly. True, I've left myself open, but it was truly worth it."

But as Damien drew his next card, he took a deep breath and thought, 'You might think it was worth it, but it's not. You're going to take in more damage than you expected.'

"I was going to use this last turn, but I was suspicious of your face-down monster," Damien said with a serious look in his eyes, "It's good to know I made the right choice."

With that, his mech used its three claws to slice Guardian open. A cloud of smoke then formed around him as he was soon replaced by the centaur with two burning lion heads, 'Twinheaded Beast'.

Glen stared in stunned silence as he uttered, "Not bad," the lion sendng a fireball into Drillago. The robot melted into nothing as a bit of the fire touched the general's mech, reducing his vitality to eighty-two hundred.

Once again, Coffin Seller took vitality from Damien's mech, lowering it to fifty-six hundred. Even so, the black-haired man ignored this as his Twinheaded Beast sent a second fireball into Glen's mech. This brought his vitality down to sixty-five hundred. But even with the damage, the general took a deep breath and chose to ignore this. After all, he still had the upper hand and despite being level six, Damien's monster could be beaten with ease as long as Glen had the right monsters, and he had just the right one in store.

As he drew his next card, he grinned wickedly and said, "Time to show you the true brilliance of Necrovalley," Damien's eyes widening as the general proceeded to summon a man dressed in a black cloak and wielding a spear. This was 'Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

Damien was rather confused until he noticed the man's power rise to two thousand, Damien staring in confusion as Glen explained, "Necrovalley increases the attack and defence of all Gravekeeper's monsters by five hundred. And just so you know, I've got quite a few of those in my deck."

Damien gulped as the man added another card to the field, a spell called 'Temple of Kings'. Damien was about to ask what this did, but Glen already saw that question coming as he stated, "In case you're wondering, this spell allows me to activate all trap cards on the turn I set them, regardless of what rules surround them."

Damien felt fortunate that the general had no trap cards to set, but it did not change the fact that he was still in trouble. Spear Soldier rushed at Twinheaded Beast and pierced the centaur with his spear, removing it after a few seconds and allowing the monster to fall on his side and sink into the floor. The man then proceeded to jab his spear into Damien's mech as his vitality dropped to fifty-three hundred. And thanks to Glen's trap, it went down to five thousand seconds later.

"Well, that was invigorating," Glen said with a smirk, "Let's see what you got for me now."

When Damien drew his next card, his eyes went wide. As it just so happened, two particular cards Damien had held onto since his first turn were 'Polymerization' and a monster named 'Elemental Hero Clayman'. And right now, he had just drawn 'Sparkman'. To make things even better, both of these monsters could be fused to create the one fusion monster Damien had not yet used.

As such, he wasted no time as he activated his spell, Glen's eyes widening as both heroes emerged from Damien's hand. Clayman latched himself to Sparkman as the electricity from the electric hero turned his body yellow. His head then relocated to Sparkman's belly and became a big blue gem while his body became a wide, yellow suit of armour. Sparkman's pants also became purple and thus the fusion was complete. The two had combined to form 'Elemental Hero Thunder Giant' and this monster had an attack power of twenty-four hundred.

'That's right, Emma's deck contains elemental heroes and fusion monsters,' Glen thought, 'I just hope this man doesn't choose to use his special effect.'

However, it seemed Damien was way ahead of him as he sent a card to his graveyard, Thunder Giant raising his arms as an orb of lightning formed between his hands. He then hurled the orb into Spear Soldier as he passed out from the resulting electric shock, sinking into the floor.

Of course, Damien's vitality dropped to forty-seven hundred as a result, but this was a small price to pay as he said, "Oh yeah, I still have a normal summon, don't I?"

With that in mind, the man proceeded to summon 'Elemental Hero Burstinatrix'. This was a woman with long silver hair and a golden war helmet atop her head. She also wore red spandex around her torso, legs and feet and had two red gloves covering her forearms and her attack power was twelve hundred.

"You may be tough, but I have the deck of the greatest soldier who ever lived," Damien stated with a serious look in his eyes, "And what's more, I know how to use it now."

Glen gritted his teeth and grunted, "Arrogant little prick," while Thunder Giant sent an electric punch into the general's mech. This reduced his vitality to forty-one hundred while Burstinatrix sent two blasts of fire into the black mech as well, Glen's vitality now at twenty-nine hundred.

He could not believe it. His mech had vastly superior vitality and power. How could Damien already be so close to defeating it? Things had been going so well, too.

But as the man drew his next card, his eyes went wide as he thought, 'Yes, I can use this.'

As such, Glen activated 'Pot of Greed' thus allowing him to draw two cards. His next two cards he just knew would be able to help him and as such, he placed both of them face-down in his spell zone. But one particular trap Glen could not wait to use as he activated it. And thanks to his Temple of Kings, he could get away with this.

Damien blinked and asked, "Oh no, what is that?" and he had all the reason to worry.

The trap in question was called 'Nightmare Wheel' and its effect would soon be made clear as a big metal wheel attached to the mouth of a demon skull appeared behind Thunder Giant. Suddenly, a spiked brace came from the middle of the wheel and latched itself to the hero's waist, locking him in place. And soon, his arms and legs were bound to the wheel as well.

"I now present to you one of my favourite cards," Glen said, "It's not a monster but it's so effective. Not only can you not attack with Thunder Giant or change his battle position, but during each of my standby phases, you take five hundred damage to your vitality."

At this moment, Morgan had dealt with another soldier in this general area when she noticed this. Her eyes went wide as she could not help but worry. She could tell, even without having heard the conversations up to this point, that this was Glen's new mech and right now, Damien seemed to be in a tight spot.

And it only got worse when Glen summoned another man in a black cloak, only this man had a staff shaped like a cane. This was 'Gravekeeper's Curse' and he had an attack power of eight hundred. Though thanks to Necrovalley, that was increased to thirteen hundred.

But the fact that this weak monster could destroy Burstinatrix was not the worst he had to offer for when he took form, he sent a blast of magic into Damien's mech. This brought his vitality down to forty-two hundred as he growled.

"Oh yes, that's right," Glen said with a smirk, "Gravekeeper's Curse inflicts five hundred damage to my opponent when he's summoned in face-up position."

And it was only about to get worse as the spellcaster proceeded to send a blast of magic into Burstinatrix. The woman cried out in pain as her body dissolved into nothing, the magic then striking Damien's mech and dropping his vitality to forty-one hundred. And it only got worse as it was reduced to thirty-eight hundred thanks to Coffin Seller.

"DAMIEN!" Morgan spat as she flew over, the black-haired man turning to face her as he said, "Oh, I see you won your duel, ma'am."

"Oh my god, Damien, I should be the one fighting this guy!" the woman exclaimed as Glen laughed and said, "You're too late, Morgan. I didn't realize giving my old mech to Taylor would help me out so well, to be honest. And by the looks of it, you shouldn't be fighting me anyway."

As much as Morgan hated to admit it, Glen was right. After all, Taylor had reduced her vitality to thirteen hundred. As if that was not bad enough, the opponent she had just defeated dealt five hundred damage to her, so now her vitality was eight hundred. She was in no position to face someone as powerful as Glen.

And at this moment, Cindy noticed this duel as well and it was not long until many others could see it. After all, Glen and Damien's duel was the only one taking place in the air, so it was certainly hard to miss. In fact, many soldiers had stopped fighting just so they could watch this.

Scarlet could barely make out the two mechs from where she was as she thought, 'I need to be there,' the woman ignoring the New Domino soldiers and flying toward the area. She had to be by Damien's side to give him confidence at the very least.

Drake and his friends could see all of this from where they were as well, Drake thinking, 'Glen seems to be dominating now. Perhaps we'll have nothing to worry about after all,' Taylor and Katherine both cheering the man on loudly while Aadil and Angela were more like Drake, just watching quietly.

"Look, Morgan, I'm sure I can handle this," Damien said with a sigh, "I know it might seem hopeless right now, but I can't just sit around and let Glen succeed. It's like you said, this man cannot be allowed to win this war."

Morgan nodded and sighed, "Alright, but I'm staying nearby to make sure things go well. If you fail, I'll try to finish what you started."

Damien nodded and had his mech give her thumbs up as he drew his next card, Glen rolling his eyes and groaning, "Okay, can you just go already? I'm getting bored waiting for you."

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses," Damien remarked as he looked over his cards.

The only monster in his hand was 'Elemental Hero Avian', but on the upside, he had just drawn his own 'Pot of Greed'. As such, the man wasted no time as he activated it without a moment's hesitation.

One of the cards he had drawn was 'Silver Bow and Arrow'. Unfortunately, he had no way to make use of this just yet, but the other card he drew could help him. With that in mind, he summoned Avian in defence mode and set his other card face-down in the spell zone.

With his turn over, Glen smirked as his Nightmare Wheel turned around. Thunder Giant's body scraped against the bottom of the sphere as blood flew from his mouth and into Damien's mech. This brought his vitality down to thirty-three hundred as he grimaced and thought, 'This had better work.'

As Glen drew his next card, his smirk remained as he said, "Well, well, well, it seems your good fortune really has run out."

With this in mind, the man had his mech take hold of Gravekeeper's Curse. With its mighty grip, it crushed the man's head in as his corpse fell to the floor of the sphere, a cloud of smoke forming around him as a demon took his place. This demon was blue and had multiple bat wings coming out of various parts of his body. Each of his pink hands had three claws and he had two long necks with snake-like heads attached to them. This demon was 'Legendary Fiend' and he had an attack power of fifteen hundred.

Damien stared silently and asked, "I'm confused. How is such a weak monster level six?" Morgan explaining, "It's because it gains seven hundred attack points during each of his standby phases."

"That's right," Glen replied with a grin, "You know how this card works," Morgan remarking, "I'm a general. I have to know these things."

And of course things would only get worse as the demon flew toward Avian, revealing the winged hero. Since Avian only had one thousand defence points, he was easy pickings as both snake heads bit into his shoulders. Avian cried out in pain while the main head bit into his face.

After a few seconds, Avian was released from the demon's hold as he sank into the floor. And as was expected, Damien's vitality dropped to three thousand.

However, it seemed the black-haired man had another plan as he revealed his trap card, Glen's eyes going wide as the trap in question was revealed to be 'Chthonian Blast'. A huge explosion rose up from under the fiend as his body burnt into ash while rocks flew into each mech. Glen's mech went down to twenty-one hundred and fifty while Damien's was reduced to twenty-two hundred and fifty. Unfortunately, due to the fact that a monster had been sacrificed for this to work, that number dropped to nineteen hundred and fifty, but even so, Glen was defenceless now.

Morgan grinned and exclaimed, "YEAH! WAY TO GO, DAMIEN!" the black-haired man taking a deep breath and saying, "You know what this means, right?"

"It doesn't mean a thing!" Glen retorted as he revealed the second trap he had set earlier. The card in question was known as 'Metal Reflect Slime', Morgan's eyes wide with shock as a spiky blob made from liquid metal emerged. It had no attack points, but its defence was three thousand. There was no way Damien could possibly destroy this monster, and with Nightmare Wheel still in effect, this was not a good sign.


	36. Chapter 36

While Damien had pulled off a very impressive comeback, Glen's Metal Reflect Slime would make things more difficult for sure. One could only guess when Damien would draw anything strong enough to destroy it if at all, so his top priority right now was to dispose of his Thunder Giant. Sure, it pained him to do it, but as long as the hero remained on the field, it would only make his defeat more likely to happen.

But just as he was about to lose faith in himself, he heard a familiar voice exclaim, "Hey, Damien, are you alright!?"

The man had his mech turn toward a certain red mech, Scarlet smiling and saying, "I came to watch your duel," Damien's eyes widening as he asked, "But what about-?"

"It's okay," Scarlet replied, "I took care of the strongest soldier on that side. The others should be fine."

Damien smiled lightly as the redhead turned to Morgan and asked, "So, what's going on?" the general replying, "Well, Damien's in the midst of a duel with New Domino's general, and before you ask, yes, that's the mech created from the parts that were stolen from us."

"For your information, I only had two parts stolen!" Glen retorted, "The rest my soldiers got for me fair and square!"

"Wait, this is their general?" Scarlet uttered before narrowing her eyelids and asking, "Damien, how are you holding up?"

"Not very well," Damien replied, "Unfortunately, I've used up most of my hand and if I don't end this quickly, I could end up failing."

Scarlet took a deep breath and had her mech raise its hand. Even though Damien was protected by the sphere, the redhead still implied a slap to his face as she exclaimed, "I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOU TALK LIKE THAT!"

Damien blinked as the woman added, "Seriously, your fighting spirit has grown even stronger than mine! Every time you're in a bad spot, you always find a way around it! I know that if anyone can beat this guy, it's you!"

"Oh, god, how many more people are going to give speeches like this!?" Glen groaned as Damien sighed, "Hopefully no one else will need to because she's right. I can defeat you and I will."

With this in mind, Damien drew his next card and breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, this was not a game-changer by any means, but it was still a much-needed improvement. As such, the man had his mech dismantle Nightmare Wheel with its blade before piercing Thunder Giant.

The hero let out a loud cry of pain and fell flat on his face, sinking into the floor. But it did not end there as he was soon replaced by 'Flame Cerebrus'. Sure, Damien's vitality had dropped to sixteen hundred and fifty as a result, but at least now he would no longer take in damage during Glen's standby phases.

"I see," the general stated, "So you've managed to delay the inevitable. No matter. This is but a minor setback."

"Yeah, you tell him, sir!" exclaimed one of his soldiers as another shouted, "Show that loser who the real boss is!" Morgan growling.

And it seemed Glen was capable of fulfilling their wish as he drew his next card and smirked. With that, he first activated a spell called 'Double Summon'. As the name implied, this meant he could now summon two monsters this turn.

Before anyone could respond to this, Glen had his mech lift up his Reflect Slime and crush it into drops of goo as the remains swirled together, a new monster taking its place. Damien's eyes widened as the slime was replaced by a man with black and white robe and a staff. This man's name was 'Gravekeeper's Chief' and he had an attack power of nineteen hundred.

The only upside to this was that since Metal Reflect Slime was still technically a trap card, Damien did not lose any vitality this time. But that hardly seemed to matter as Glen had much more in store for him.

However, Necrovalley raising his attack power to twenty-four hundred was not the only reason Glen summoned him as the general explained, "My chief is a very useful effect. See, when he is tribute summoned, I can return any Gravekeeper's monster I want from the graveyard, and Necrovalley won't stop him from doing it."

On that note, the man returned his Spear Soldier as he added, "I'll be perfectly honest. I don't really care which of my monsters I bring back because I have no intention of using any of these two against you."

Drake's eyes went wide with shock as Glen sacrificed both of his monsters. And since it was two monsters instead of one, Coffin Seller absorbed an even bigger orb from Damien's mech as his vitality dropped to one thousand and fifty.

Now things truly looked over for Damien as a large scorpion stood before him. This bug was purple with blue spikes lining his back. His feet had three claws on the ends and the creature had an Egyptian eye attached to his back. This was 'Mystical Beast of Serket' and he had an attack power of twenty-five hundred.

"Behold," Glen said with a grin as the other New Domino soldiers all went wild at the sight of this, "This is the strongest monster in my deck! Sure, he may not seem like much now, but just watch! He'll be even stronger by the end of this turn!"

Morgan gulped as Scarlet asked, "What exactly does he mean by that?" the general groaning, "You're gonna find out soon enough."

The scorpion then proceeded to crawl over toward Flame Cerebrus as he grabbed hold of the dog's shoulders with his pincers. The dog howled in pain as the insect opened his mouth wide and bit into his head. After a few seconds, he had completely devoured Flame Cerebrus as he had legs expanded in width and two more heads sprouted out of his neck.

To make matters worse, his attack power rose to three thousand as he spat out all three of Cerebrus' skulls. They flew into Damien's mech and brought his vitality down to six hundred and fifty, and thanks to Coffin Seller, that number was soon reduced to three hundred and fifty. Now Damien could no longer afford to have even so much as one monster defeated if he was to win this duel.

It did not help much when Glen activated the card he had just drawn, 'red potion', thus increasing his vitality to twenty-six hundred and fifty. Now things had gotten even worse.

"As you can see, there is nothing you have that can possibly defeat my Serket in less than one turn," Glen said with a smirk, "Unfortunately, the only downside to this monster is that the removal of Temple of the Kings destroys him, but I wonder if you even have something that can help with that."

Damien had to admit that the general had a point. Unless he could draw some kind of miracle card, he was finished. But even so, he could not give up as he slowly drew his next card.

Scarlet bit her lip and said, "It's okay if you lose, honey. I'll finish him off," Morgan adding, "And I'll help, so don't feel bad if you fail."

"It's okay," Damien replied as he took a deep breath, "Because I won't fail."

All went silent as one of the New Domino soldiers whispered, "He's totally bluffing, right?" a Crystal City soldier remarking, "As if. You're talking about Emma's son, here."

And as it just so happened, Damien had drawn a card that would definitely turn things around. Sure, it would not guarantee him a victory, but it was still a vast improvement as he activated 'Parallel World Fusion.'

"What!?" Glen spat as everyone else stared silently, Damien saying, "That's right, I have the monsters necessary to create one of four fusions in my graveyard, but there's only one that I know can defeat you."

With this in mind, Damien brought out Sparkman and Avian. Glen's eye twitched as he uttered, "Wait, Necrovalley should cancel this effect!" Damien remarking, "If it could, then why is the effect working? These mechs are designed to follow the rules of the game to a tee, so clearly this spell doesn't violate the rules of Necrovalley."

Both Sparkman and Avian merged together as a bright light shone. Soon enough, Elemental Hero Great Tornado stood in their place as Glen stared in stunned silence, a wide grin forming on Morgan's face. Damien was right, he had drawn a true winner.

Sure, twenty-eight hundred attack points seemed like too little, but when the hero unleashed a huge torrent of wind from his shoulder fans, Glen knew what was coming. And sure enough, Serket's attack power dropped to fifteen hundred as everyone in the surrounding area stared in complete shock.

"ALRIGHT, SHOW HIM WHO'S BOSS, DAMIEN!" Morgan exclaimed with a wide grin, Scarlet adding, "You're the man!"

Drake and the others stared in stunned silence as Taylor asked, "So does that mean Emma's son is going to win?" the others hoping for a different result as Great Tornado flew toward Serket and punched the scorpion hard in the face.

A powerful gust of wind came from his arm as soon enough, the scorpion's entire body was covered in cuts, blood spraying from each one. After a few seconds, the bug collapsed and sank into the floor of the sphere while the hero proceeded forward and punched Glen's mech hard.

Glen's eyes and mouth twitched as his vitality dropped to thirteen hundred and fifty. But seeing this, the Crystal City soldiers seemed a tad disappointed as they had forgotten Glen had enough vitality to survive this attack. And this only seemed worse when Coffin Seller absorbed another orb of light from Damien's mech and brought his vitality down to fifty.

But it seemed something else was off as a strange beeping sound could be heard from Glen's mech, everyone nearby confused by this. It was just loud enough that even Drake and his companions could hear it from their resting spot on the ground.

"Hey, anyone know what that sound is?" Damien asked as Morgan shrugged and replied, "Hey, I only know what parts were used for this mech, not how these parts work."

"Actually, this is the result of an extra part," Glen explained in a dark and monotonous tone, "See, this mech would have had only sixty-three hundred vitality if it hadn't been for this very part. Do you remember that red diamond that was discovered in the Ruby Swamp?"

"Oh yeah, the one Drake took from Matt," Morgan replied, "Are you telling me you actually installed it into the mech?"

"That's exactly what I did," Glen replied, "See, there were two major benefits of having it inside of my mech. The first of these is that it gave the mech an additional two thousand vitality, but now I'll reveal the best part. This diamond is also an ancient bomb that can only be activated with extremely high pressure. If anything, the explosion that would result from my mech's vitality reaching zero would be more than enough to activate it."

Drake and the others stared wide-eyed as Cindy squeaked in panic, Scarlet asking, "Are you telling me you didn't even need those other two bombs you sent after us?"

"Those were merely decoys!" Glen replied with a wicked smirk, "I knew Morgan would pick up on them and have her most powerful soldiers go after those! Little did I know her strongest soldier would not be one of them, but no matter."

"So, what exactly was your master plan?" Damien asked as the general subconsciously rested his hand against a button that started a conference call with all of his soldiers, including those not close enough to hear him, and replied, "It's quite simple, actually. See, once I got close enough to your base, I would have had my mech destroy itself. With its attack power being as high as two thousand, it would only take a few hits to pull it off and when that happened, not only would your entire base be destroyed, but everything within a two mile radius would be effected as well. This means a fraction of the city would go down with it. Sure, I'd rather all of Crystal City be destroyed, but I think this is more than enough to prove that my family is superior!"

All went silent as Angela uttered, "But I thought his plan was to spare everyone," Drake nodding and saying, "This was not supposed to end with casualties, was it?"

"To think everyone bought into this whole 'defeat your opponent but don't kill him' crap!" Glen exclaimed, "Even you fell for it! This is a war! People die in wars all the time! It's astounding all of your soldiers are still alive seeing as each has suffered defeat at least once!"

"Back up," Damien remarked, "You were at least going to inform your men of this soon, right?" Glen saying, "Actually, that completely slipped my mind," New Domino's soldiers staring in shock as he added, "That's right! I don't care about your pathetic, miserable lives!" as he drew his next card and exclaimed, "In love and war, the ends will always justify the means!"

However, while yelling, the man had done something incredibly stupid. He had just hit his hand up against a button labelled 'end phase' and as a result, he had just skipped his last turn. This meant he was wide open and Damien could finish him off for good. And of course, now all of his allies knew what was going on.

"I can't believe it," Katherine uttered as Katie groaned, "I've been helping a murderer?"

Felicity's eyes and mouth were wide with shock as she uttered, "I helped him put this plan into action," many other soldiers outraged by this news. Angela held Aadil tight as Morgan exclaimed, "EVERYONE, EVACUATE! THIS IS NOT GONNA END WELL!"

Damien nodded and said, "That's right, now that you've stupidly skipped your last turn, I'm gonna use this chance the best way I can," Glen shaking his head as his eye twitched, the man uttering, "No, you're not gonna rely on such a cheap tactic, right? Surely, I deserve another chance to defend myself."

"No you don't," the black-haired man retorted, "I already felt that you didn't deserve to win this war with such a petty reason to fight us, but after hearing your plan, now I know you don't deserve to win! Seriously, if Drake was the one leading this attack, I'd eventually accept defeat!"

Drake grinned and said, "He really is a good guy," the blue-haired man rising to his feet as he reached for his jet pack. And soon enough, the others followed suit and started to evacuated the area. After all, it was just as Glen said. The soldiers needed to be two miles away if they were to survive the resulting explosion.

"But wait," Scarlet uttered with a look of terror in her eyes, "What about you, Damien? You won't be able to make it in time!" Morgan's eyes widening as she groaned, "That completely slipped my mind."

Cindy squeaked in panic at the sound of that before flying close and pleading, "Wait, Damien, you don't have to do this! We can't lose you!"

The man shook his head and replied, "No, I have to do this. If this man succeeds, we'll lose more than just one life," Glen's body shaking as he slapped his hand against his deck in the hopes that his mech would accept his surrender and fly away.s

Unfortunately, this could only work if it was his turn and since it was still Damien's turn, Glen could not surrender. But at the same time, he did not wish to have a plan that had taken him so long to initiate fail.

"Look, fly to safety," Damien said with a light smile, "Trust me, it'll all be okay."

Scarlet let down a light tear as both she and her mech nodded their heads. She then let out a brief, "I love you, Damien," and headed off into the distance.

Cindy gave the man an army salute and fled from the area herself. She then noticed Drake and his friends trying to escape as she flew next to them.

"Cindy, what are you-?" Drake asked as the pink-haired woman said, "Come into my mech. You'll be safer there," the pink mech extending its hand toward them.

Drake nodded as Taylor spat, "Are you crazy!? She's with Crystal City!" Katherine sighing, "She's also trying to save our lives. Seriously, I'm supposed to be the paranoid one, not you!"

With that in mind, all five soldiers landed in the pink mech's hand as Cindy opened the hatch and let them inside. However, upon seeing her, Katherine and Aadil both recognized her as fear coursed through her veins.

"Um, do you know her?" Angela asked as Aadil shrugged and replied, "Leave it to Drake to let a Crystal City soldier into our base and not tell us," Katherine sighing, "He's so selfless that he'd even return one of them to her home instead of turning her into the authorities."

"Thanks, Cindy," Drake said with a grin as Cindy blushed bright and uttered, "Our job is to win battles, not kill people, right?"

Once everyone was far from the area, Glen trembled as Damien had his mech fly toward the black mech before him. With that, Damien rammed his blade into the mechanical being as its vitality dropped to six hundred and fifty. And with one strike from the blue mech's claws, Glen's vitality was reduced to zero as his mech started to sputter.

"Well, you can flee now," Damien said as Glen sighed, "No, this is the moment where the general goes down with his suit."

Damien's eyes widened as he wanted to protest against this. But he knew he had little time as the sphere vanished. As such, the black-haired man did his best to fly away when after a few seconds, Glen took a deep breath and sighed, "I almost did it, Father. I almost finished what you started."

After ten seconds, a red light came from the black mech as a huge explosion formed. Damien's eyes widened as he upped the speed of his mech. Unfortunately, he was unable to get away in time as he was soon caught in the blast, a huge shock wave headed toward the others who were well out of harm's reach.

As the explosion cleared, a large cloud of smoke lingered as all went silent. Morgan bit her lower lip as Scarlet let down light tears, sniffing all the while. Cindy have her mech give the red one a hug while Taylor said, "He gave up his life just to save all of us. Wow, even I wouldn't have gone through with something like that."

"I still can't believe we all helped that madman," Katherine growled, "I feel so stupid," Angela whimpering while Aadil patted the Asian woman on the shoulder and sighed, "We were all wrong to follow him, but I honestly thought he was a good guy."

"I thought he was pretty cool," Steven said as Matt groaned, "I just can't believe it! He helped us in so many ways, more than I think even he realized!"

But as the smoke cleared, Scarlet's eyes widened as she had her mech point at the ground and shouted, "LOOK!"

While Damien's mech had fallen to pieces, the one thing that miraculously stayed intact was the torso. And everyone was even more shocked when the hatch opened up and Damien slowly rose up from under it, rubbing his head and groaning, "Oh my god, I'm still alive!"

Upon seeing this, Scarlet bit her lower lip as a big smile formed, tears falling down her cheeks like two small waterfalls. Cindy had a wide open-mouth smile while Matt and Steven both grinned and cheered. Even the New Domino soldiers were relieved to see this as they all broke out into heavy cheers, Damien looking up at them with his eyes wide open. He could not believe that he of all people had actually earned such praise, especially since he did not believe he could amount to anything when he first arrived in the army.

Morgan folded her arms and said, "Wow, I knew that mech's coating was tough, but I didn't think it was that strong," one soldier exclaiming, "YOU RULE, DAMIEN!"

"GREAT JOB!" another one shouted as many others started to chant the man's name. Damien had not only saved the lives of many but he had even managed to survive an explosion no one else could have.

Even so, a part of him did not feel like celebrating. After all, it was partly his fault that Glen had died. Even if the general tried to escape, there was no doubt he would not have been able to make it, not when he only had a little more than ten seconds to do so. Even Damien's mech could not escape at full power.

Even so, his spirits lifted when Scarlet's mech landed next to him. The redhead then climbed out of the mech and ran toward Damien with her arms spread out. The black-haired man had no time to respond as she held him tight, her lips pressed up against his.

A light smile formed on Damien's face as he said, "Well, I can guess we can go on a real date now," Scarlet shaking her head as the two shared another compassionate kiss. However, Damien was rather shocked when the redhead took hold of his wrists and pressed his hands up against her chest.

Upon seeing his face, Scarlet winked and said, "Hey, I wouldn't allow anyone else to do it," as Damien grinned and said, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this to some degree."

And with all said and done, things had finally calmed down. The soldiers all had bright futures ahead of them, but what would they do now? They no longer had a reason to serve in the army. Whatever the case, they knew that nothing would stop them now.


	37. Chapter 37

This was it. The war between Crystal City and New Domino was finally over as life had truly turned around for the soldiers. But now that they had no reason to stay in the army, what would become of them?

For started, both armies set their differences aside and became friends. It was once again safe for the citizens of Crystal City to visit New Domino and vice-verse.

However, before that could happen, Damien and Drake both stared at one-another as Damien asked, "So, you feel up to a rematch sometime?" the man pulling his deck out of his pocket while the blue-haired man nodded and replied, "Any time."

Though luckily, this was not out of malice or hatred but now it was out of respect for one-another. If anything, Drake was happy to finally have a duel with Damien under good circumstances.

Of course, shortly after everything came around, Damien and Scarlet went on their first real date. Since Damien had hardly any money, the redhead decided to treat him to a fancy dinner. The man did feel bad as he knew it was customary for the guy to pay for at least the first date, but Scarlet was more than happy to do this.

While the two sat at a nice table across from one-another, the redhead grinned and asked, "So, did you ever think you'd be in a place like this with the woman of your dreams?" Damien replying, "Honestly, not really. After my last breakup, I wasn't sure if I'd ever date again."

A smile then formed on his face as he added, "Good thing you guys showed me the light," Scarlet nodding and saying, "It was no problem."

After a few seconds, Damien looked around and said, "I still can't believe it's all over, though. Now I might be out of a job forever," Scarlet shaking her head and remarking, "Hey, don't give up, alright? Now that you know how to smile again, I'm sure someone will hire you."

The woman then added, "You know, I was thinking of applying for a job at the local brewery. Maybe we can both apply together," Damien's eyes widening as he said, "I love you so much right now."

The redhead laughed in response to this as the two could not have been happier. And it would not be long until they got that dream job. After all, both were alcohol connoisseurs so it only made sense that they would work in a brewery.

Normally, there would be a problem with Cindy as she would never be caught working in a place like that. However, now that she no longer relied on Scarlet for security, she did not feel the need to always be by the redhead's side. As such, she was perfectly fine with this goal.

In fact, she and Drake had spent more time together since the war ended. Sure, they had only known each-other for a day beforehand, but that short time they had spent together showed just how much they had in common. And that good friendship eventually developed as the two fell in love.

One fine day, Cindy was in the middle of packing her bags when Scarlet, Damien, Matt and Steven came over to check up on her. The pink-haired immediately ran to the door when she heard the bell ring. And needless to say, she was beyond ecstatic to see the four there.

"Hey there, Cindy," Steven said with a grin as Matt asked, "Not to be rude, but why did you call us over? That was kinda sudden."

"Well, I wanted to see you all today," Cindy replied with a bright smile, "because we might not be able to see each-other frequently anymore."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Scarlet asked as her pink-haired friend blushed and replied, "Well, I'm moving to New Domino. Drake asked me to marry him and I've decided to live in his house from now on."

All four stared wide-eyed until Scarlet broke the silence and gave her best friend a hug, shouting, "CONGRATULATIONS!" Damien nodding and saying, "Yeah, this is a big step for you. But are you really sure about this?"

"Yes," Cindy replied with a sweet smile, "Drake said he'd gladly move here if it made me feel more comfortable, but, well, New Domino is such a nice place and honestly, I think I'd feel better if I lived there from now on. I've already called up my parents to tell them the news and it would mean a lot if you guys would come to attend the wedding too."

"Of course we will," Matt remarked with a smirk, "We wouldn't miss it for the world, but when is it?" Cindy replying, "Well, it's going to be exactly six months from now on the first Saturday. I can't remember the exact number."

"First Saturday, got it," Steven replied as Cindy added, "It gets better. Drake also got me a job in the local flower shop. I've always wanted to work somewhere like that," Scarlet sporting a wide smile and saying, "That's great! I know I already said it, but seriously, congratulations!"

As this went on, Drake had gone to the hospital to visit Rebecca. She only had a little less than a month before she made a full recovery and naturally, she was thrilled to hear that her brother was getting married. And just as the man suspected, his sister did not care that it was not him who ended the war. If anything, she was glad that Glen's plan had been thwarted and actually wanted to meet Damien sometime so she could thank him for saving everyone.

She had already met Cindy, of course, and she was beyond grateful to her. After all, she had protected Drake when he and his friends tried to escape from the explosion with their jet packs.

Meanwhile, Angela, Taylor and Aadil had certainly found themselves good jobs. Aadil got a job at the local toy company and designed a lot of dragon-based ideas that his boss seemed to really like. Angela, all the while, had gotten a job selling ornaments while Taylor became a professional fighter.

One day, all three were out on a walk when they had a day off, Taylor asking, "So, you did call up Drake, right, Aadil?" the African man replying, "Yeah. Unfortunately, he's still getting caught up with his sister. I mean, they haven't seen each-other in months, so it'll be a while until she's up to speed."

"Well, I think it's sweet," Angela said with a big smile as Aadil replied, "Yeah, Drake may have been our best soldier, but deep down, he really does have a heart of gold."

At that moment, the two noticed Katherine and Katie walking by. The blue-haired woman soon spotted them as well as she waved happily to them, Katie joining her friend. The white-haired woman had a young man with a bit of belly next to her. This was her boyfriend, Bradley.

"Oh my god, I haven't seen you guys since the war ended!" Katherine exclaimed, "How are you!?" Taylor saying, "We're doing fine."

"Where's Drake?" Katie asked as Aadil explained the whole deal with him and his sister, Katherine's eyes sparkling as she sighed, "I keep telling myself I'm ready to move on, but he keeps getting more and more amazing everyday."

Bradley chuckled and said, "I'm still willing to set you up with Samuel," Katherine groaning, "Look, you're a nice guy, but your friend scares me."

"By the way, Aadil and I are going to do some more origami at my place," Angela said, "Wanna join us?" Aadil and Taylor both impressed by this. Angela had become much more social as of late and a big part of this was thanks to Aadil.

"Um, no," Taylor said as she winked at Katherine, "I need to do some clean-up work back home."

Katherine nodded and said, "Katie, Brad and I are gonna hang out all day, so you two have fun."

Aadil and Angela watched them run off with blank expressions and shrugged their shoulders. Deep down, this was simply Taylor's way to get them to spend more time together with no one else around. Both she and Drake knew the two had feelings for each-other but there was no way either would say something unless they were alone long enough.

As far as other jobs went, Drake had landed himself a job at a game shop. Due to his months of duelling, he had developed a love of games and vastly preferred playing Yu-Gi-Oh for fun as opposed to using the cards as a war tool. So he figured running the game shop would help get people to use it and many other games for what they were originally made for, just fun past times.

Matt got a job at a construction site, and here he met the first woman who ever wanted to go out with him. She was a tough woman with long black hair named Tammy. Not only did she and Matt get along well together, but shockingly, she was the one who asked him out on their first date.

Morgan had sold the army base to Scientists who wished to turn it into a testing facility and used the money to open up her own card shop. Shockingly, Steven still felt loyal to her, so he ended up being her assistant. Though Morgan did not just open up the shop for her own benefit. Deep down, she knew that this was the path Emma would want her to follow. After all, they both loved the Yu-Gi-Oh card game.

But this did not mean Morgan would devote her life to this, of course. After all, she was married and now that the war was over, she could finally see her husband and kids again. Needless to say, both idolized her for all she had done during the war and were happy that their side had won.

Katherine had gotten a job at a local aquarium not too long after the war. Her reason for having an ocean-themed deck was because she simply loved sea creatures, so this was the job for her.

After a couple of weeks on the job, she met the love of her life, a man by the name of Gregory. Like her, he was really into sea life but also shared a lot of her interests. Needless to say, he was certainly a better match for her than Drake ever could have been.

During this time, Scarlet and Damien had finally started work at the local brewery. Sure, they had to wait a little over a week just to get an interview and a few days for confirmation, but they were more than thrilled to finally start working on something that not only was not war-related but also put them in a comfortable environment.

The two were in the middle of tasting some of the alcoholic beverages while Damien grinned at Scarlet and said, "This is hands-down the best part of the job," the redhead grinning and replying, "You said it!"

By the end of the month, Rebecca was finally able to leave the hospital as she breathed in the fresh air with Damien, their parents and Cindy by her side. Drake's father smiled at the blue-haired man and said, "Thanks for taking care of her, son," Drake replying, "Hey, I know how busy you two have been."

Cindy smiled bright as Drake's mother added, "And thank you for coming to visit every now and then too. You're such a nice young lady," the father adding, "Don't forget, she'll soon be our new daughter."

The pink-haired woman's cheeks were flushed pink as she squealed, "You're all too kind!" Drake resting a hand on her shoulder and saying, "They're right, though. You really are an amazing woman."

Rebecca then smirked and asked, "So, are you and my brother gonna do it when you're married?" Cindy's cheeks even brighter as Drake remarked, "Rebecca, that's inappropriate!" the parents both laughing in response to this.

The blue-haired man then sighed, "Still, I wouldn't mind having children some day, but we don't have to rush into that," Cindy nodding and replying, "We should at least wait until marriage first."

Drake then turned to Rebecca and asked, "So, now that you're out of the hospital, what do you wanna do?" the girl thinking about this and replying, "There are two major things I wanna do today. Since you two are gonna be husband and wife soon, I challenge each of you to a duel."

"Does she play Yu-Gi-Oh too?" Cindy asked as Drake nodded and replied, "Yep, I bought her a starter deck for her tenth birthday. So far, I've been her only opponent, though."

Cindy nodded and grinned, saying, "You're on," the woman more than happy to finally duel for fun instead of for war purposes.

"Oh, one more thing," Rebecca added, "Don't lose to me on purpose. Drake used to do that all the time until I turned twelve. I'm fourteen now. I can handle defeat."

Cindy beamed and replied, "I promise I'll do my best," Drake sighing, "You might wanna rethink that, Rebecca. She beat me in a duel, remember?"

Rebecca did not care as she had been waiting for a chance to duel with Cindy. And soon the girl realized that Damien had not been kidding about Cindy's skills. Sure, it looked hopeful for Rebecca at first, but ultimately, Cindy defeated her when she finally got the perfect hand to summon 'Barbaroid'.

"Geez, it took you longer than Drake, but you really got some good cards hidden in that deck of yours," Rebecca groaned before smirking and saying, "All the more reason for you to be the perfect lover for my big brother," Drake sighing, "I think I liked it better when you didn't know what sex was."

A month later, Damien and Scarlet were out on their fortieth date. Rather than going some place fancy of expensive, the two instead went for a walk through the park. After an hour or so of that, the two took a rest on a bench and held hands.

"Hey, Scarlet, I got a little something for you," Damien stated as the redhead asked, "Oh, what is it?"

"Close your eyes," the man replied as Scarlet nodded and did just that. After a few seconds, Damien told her to open them, the redhead shocked when she saw Damien holding up her hand with a ring placed on her finger.

The woman's eyes widened as she started to breathe heavily, Damien bending down on one knee and saying, "Scarlet, you are the most amazing woman I've ever met. You taught me to smile when I had forgotten how. You're the only woman I've met with so many of the same interests as me and you're just an amazing woman in general. I love you more than anyone else, so I ask you, will you make me the happiest man alive?"

"Yes!" the redhead exclaimed with a big grin, the two holding each-other in a tight embrace before sharing a long kiss.

And six months later, Cindy and Drake had their wedding and, as promised, everyone came to attend. Even Morgan took some time out of her schedule to have her and Steven witness the event. Needless to say, Cindy was more than happy to have everyone there.

However, the people she was most surprised to see before the reception were her parents. Sure, she had sent them in invite, but they were living far from either city and rarely ever stopped by for a visit due to their work. Cindy was afraid they might be too busy.

However, both parents smiled wide as they ran toward their daughter and gave her a big hug. Cindy smiled bright and squeaked, "Hi, Mom and Dad! It's so nice to see you!"

"Hey, it's your wedding day," her father replied, "We wouldn't miss this for the world."

Cindy's mother nodded and added, "Yeah, it's been a long time. By the way, we saw the photos you sent us. You picked yourself one handsome young man, that's for sure."

The pink-haired woman blushed brightly and squeaked, "Well, he's really nice, too," the father laughing and saying, "I can't wait to meet him, but don't call him over just yet. It's supposedly bad luck for the bride and groom to see each-other before the wedding."

Cindy giggled before heading into a big chapel to get ready. Words could not describe her excitement.

Needless to say, Scarlet had been chosen as Cindy's bridesmaid while Damien was the best man. Currently, Scarlet was putting the finishing touches on Cindy's outside as she said, "Wow, you look more dazzling than usual. I'd even go so far as to say you look downright sexy."

Cindy's cheeks were bright pink as she sighed, "He may not be my soul mate, but if it hadn't been for Damien, I probably wouldn't have had the courage to ever go through with something like this."

"Well, he definitely played a bigger part than I ever did," Scarlet replied, "but in all seriousness, I never believed Drake of all people would be the one for you."

"Yeah, I used to be just as scared of him as everyone else," the pink-haired woman replied as the redhead nodded and said, "Either way, I am so happy for you right now."

Moments later, both were up on stage after the priest had given the opening speech, the man asking, "Do you, Drake, take Cindy to be your lawfully wedded wife until death do you part?"

"I do," Drake replied as the priest then asked Cindy the same question, the woman blushing brightly and replying, "I do."

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife," the priest said as both shared a deep and passionate kiss, the people all cheering while Morgan held Steven tight and cried louder than everyone. She then pulled out a tissue and blew her nose, shouting, "THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!" Steven uttering, "Um, ma'am, you're suffocating me."

Cindy threw a bouquet of flowers into the crowd as Katherine was the one who ended up catching it, her eyes widening as Gregory grinned and said, "This could be a sign," the man kissing her cheek.

It was not long until many more weddings followed. Of course Damien and Scarlet were next, and theirs was a wedding day to remember. In fact, Damien had even tripped and accidentally ripped off the bottom of Scarlet's dress, but the woman refused to let that get to her as she was used to this sort of thing by now.

Katherine and Gregory were married next, and the two decided to have their marriage be a special event at the aquarium. Sure, such a thing was unheard of before then, but the staff was more than happy to contribute to their joining.

And soon enough, Aadil and Angela followed suit. In fact, both had made their own wedding rings out of golden origami paper as a symbol of their favourite hobby. Their families were mixed about this but decided to accept it.

Matt and Tammy had their wedding not too long afterwards. Neither wanted a big spectacle, so they went with a simple wedding with a modest budget. Needless to say, all of the former soldiers were very happy with their new lives.

Two years had now passed since the war ended. Those who were married now had kids of their own, but two in particular had set off for a very important meeting with one-another. They were, of course, Damien and Drake.

Drake had taken a quick trip to Crystal City with Cindy and their new baby daughter, Sapphire, with them. All three were headed toward the local park, specifically an area with tables where people often liked to play games of chess.

Meanwhile, Damien was headed there right now in his new car with Scarlet holding a baby boy and a baby girl, two twins named David and Sabrina. The redhead smiled sweetly at the children and said, "Your daddy's gonna kick butt today."

"Well, hopefully," Damien replied with a grin as he soon parked the car in front of the entrance to the park. It seemed Drake had already arrived as his car was parked there as well.

Soon enough, Damien arrived at his destination as Drake grinned and waved. Cindy and Scarlet ran over to one-another and talked about how their married lives had been treating them. They would have given each-other a hug, but they were still holding their babies, so that was not a good idea.

Drake and Damien had a brief conversation themselves, the two getting along really well. Two years ago, this would have been surprising to see, but now it just felt natural.

However, once the conversations came to a close, Damien pulled out his Yu-Gi-Oh deck and asked, "You ready for this?" Drake replying, "Hey, I've been waiting two years for this day. Of course I came prepared."

With that, the two took a seat at one of the tables and shuffled their decks before setting them down with serious looks in their eyes. After a few seconds, they each drew five cards and exclaimed, "Duel!"


End file.
